Blu In The Face
by sephjnr
Summary: Set one year after my other Nanafic Vectors Over The Air. Nana's career takes a few unexpected, turbulent twists involving those who love her, loathe her and want to exploit her. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: When reality hits you in the face, what can you do?
1. The end of the affair

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Elfen Lied or any of the major characters in the series.

This story is based on my one-shot fiction _Vectors over the air_, which I recommend you read as a basis. Set 4 years after the end of Elfen Lied it follows Nana's unorthodox methods of keeping herself under the radar whilst trying to make a living for her adoptive family- in this canon she is 10 years old, thus as a Silpelit she has the appearance of a 20-year-old woman.

* * *

**CHAPTER ONE**

* * *

"What the hell?… Blu! Blu, wake up!"  
"Good god… what's up with her arms and legs?"  
"Is she still breathing?"  
"Yeah… she's fallen asleep."  
"This is bad. Six million people are listening and the track's on its last minute. Get me water, quick!"  
The studio director took a styrofoam cup and poured water from the tap whilst Horace slapped Nana lightly in the face, getting little more than dream-laden mutters for the effort. Taking the cup he poured it on her nose and she woke with a start-  
"PAPA!!... aww, nuts." 

Eyes darting across the studio ceiling she wondered where she was for a few moments, and a huge black man's face came into her line of sight- "You 'kay, Blu?"  
"… oh jeez, Horace. I'm in deep shit, aren't I?"  
"Are you alright?"  
"Yes, I'm fine."  
"30 seconds and you're live!"  
"Damn it… Put me on the chair!"

Horace carefully hauled Nana up onto the chair, pushing it as close to the console as possible. Not considering her vectors for a few moments he straightened out her tangled headset and placed it on her head. The manager observed her cussing under her breath- right at her moment of triumph during a live linkup to a prime-time radio station in England, she'd fallen fast asleep during a demo mix she'd been given by fans of her show, falling from the edge of her seat and banging her head against the console buttons, landing underneath her limbs. What was more was that the live feed from the music deck had been muted for a few seconds before the director had rushed in to check on Nana, correcting the mistake while tending to her.

"Fifteen seconds!"

The next sight was no less frightening to him- her limbs appeared to pick themselves off the floor and re-assemble themselves into position. Wiggling her fingers and toes, Nana slapped the taste out of her own mouth and took a sip from the cup that was used to revive her, and another from a fresh can of energy-drink she kept just above the microphone. Looking at the computer monitor to the side of her she caught a few sparse lines of text she'd typed into a copy of Notepad to remind herself- the name of her co-broadcaster on the other side of the world, her set-list for the show and the running time- two hours out of her regular four.

"Igirisu, Engrissu, Engrishu, _English… How now brown cow, she sells sea shells on the sea shore… I got it, let's go_."

She put her game-face on as a battered, bruised Nana Kurama stepped aside and a battered, bruised Blu Sevens re-entered, breathing in the atmosphere of the studio. Tightening her throat and singing a simple tune she vocally and mentally prepared herself for the link to come back on- the deer in the headlights putting on a Running-Back's helmet.

"Five… Four… Three… Two… One…"

Thankfully, her opposite number put the brakes on…   
"_And that was SMASH_ _with__the psychedelic Etude in Corduroy, 6:45 of hypnotic guitar excellence!_"  
"'Hypnotic' was certainly an apt term to use, Bernard. Needless to say the creativity was in full flow during the apparent four-week recording of just that one track, and I have it on good authority that they're being headhunted in order to produce a studio cut fairly soon, hopefully tweaked a little bit so that the listening public can actually make it to the second track without exiting lights!"  
"_Speaking of influences, Blu, to many of listeners this side of the world it may seem too derivative of the 1970s, and – pardon me for sounding ignorant – we're not fully aware of how fast this kind of music travels in the Far East…_"  
"That ain't really the point, over here many of us who are out of love for the J-Pop scene are happier to set our own pace of musical development, say nothing about SMASH's methods, haha, but isn't one of the greatest maxims of life 'To copy from one source is plagiarism, to copy from many is research'? And I can name at least six such bands here that will still be operating from their mother's basements when they're 35, and money will have nothing to do with it!"  
"_So, what's next from the land of the Rising Sun?"_  
"Something a little heavier, Bernard - Knot of Gordium with… Splitting Headache!"

Horace and the studio director could do little but look on as the girl who fell asleep right in front of them frenetically got into the groove of her next track, transfixed at her gyrating and waving her limbs in double-time, her mini-skirt and sky-blue tee drenched all the way through with sweat and water. The director smiled - for a woman that just slated a band live on air for substance abuse that cap didn't look too poor of a fit on her…

"What a pro." was all Horace could say.  
"A near miss." the director reciprocated. "But we can't take the risk, she'll have to knock off early. What I want to know is what's up with her limbs… they look like prosthetics."  
"You didn't know after all this time, chief? Those spook stories that wacko Institute is spouting about the Diclonius having invisible arms that cut people into pieces are true."  
His floor boss mulled it over for a second- "Riiiight… so she's using those false arms and legs as _gloves…_"  
"Pretty much, boss."  
"Did she say how she lost her real ones in the first place?"  
"Nope, and you can ask her at your own risk. I say this as a friend but they still look far too small on her, though."  
"_Oompa loompa, Doompa-de-doo…_"  
"_Come on_, hehehe, that was uncalled for!"

Leaving Horace contorted with laugher the studio director could see Nana take her headphones off for a breather and he entered the studio room. She caught his look of concern, smiling weakly. Profuse apologies were offered and accepted, and she swigged from her drink whilst the director picked up a handset on her console and spoke to the DJ from England, explaining she'd be cutting the link earlier than expected.  
"Your cab will be here in 30. Thank me tomorrow."  
"This can't go on, Hiro-chan… It's been like this for a year and a half now, and I'm running on empty."  
"I'll let the MD know and see if I can get you a civilised timeslot. The drug gags will be out of the window, though."  
"I'll manage."

Nana finished her shortened set, apologising to England for interrupting their early-evening blast of Japanese counter-culture, and looked at the clock- 6:45AM. Finishing her drink she shook her head in relief- the end of this insane charade was in sight, and if it her career was downhill from there she was ready to accept it. Horace entered the room and stooped over to give her an honest hug, and she kissed him on the cheek and departed the studio. Wiping her face on her sodden t-shirt she reached for her coat from a nearby stand, put it on and rifled through her pockets, finding a carton of Lucky Strike with two cigarettes remaining, one of them half-stubbed. She stared at the carton for a few moments- the packet was taunting her as if it was a fairground mirror providing a warped picture of what she was turning into.

"You won't be needing _these_ bastards anymore, Nana. Your fuse is burning fast enough" she said, and threw the cigarettes into a trash can. More urgently she heard a staccato beeping in her left-breast coat pocket.  
Fishing her cell phone from inside she looked at the legend- "_You have one new text message._" Pressing the enter button on her phone Nana saw Mayu's name on the message and opened it, grimacing on the result-

'_Yuka knows. Hell on Earth to come._'

"Hope you get out of there soon, Papa, I won't be there to keep you up when you should be sleeping anymore" she said to herself then paid a quick visit to the Ladies' Room. Leaving her companions behind with hugs and kisses she went to wait outside the studio for the taxi, half-praying there'd be rain to keep her awake just a little longer, to wash her embarrassing secret away. Instead she got a brilliant dawn rising from above, and she sighed upon gazing at the sun, a single teardrop coming out.  
Her humble chariot arrived in fairly swift order and she barely muttered "Kaede Inn, please" before collapsing on the back seat, trying to lie down on the seat to make sure that if the grip on her false limbs failed they wouldn't fall far enough to be conspicuous to the driver. She stared out of the window, following the well-rehearsed short route her normal cab would have been taking 75 minutes later, the rising sun causing her addled brain to make up a haunting chorus to cloud her ears from the inside, playing it as if this humble cab was her personal ferry across the Styx to the Underworld.

"Goin' home early, miss?" the cab-driver asked. "You're usually buzzing in here." Noticing his smile befitted that of Charon she merely nodded and said "I'm a bit poorly right now", returning her attention to her mental chorus and the rising sun leaving its gorgeous light on the shops and buildings in downtown Kamakura, knowing that she would not partake in enjoying it. She was heading to a _much_ darker place.  
As if to cue with the last singer's voice fading out the cab pulled up at the foot of the steps leading to the Inn. Staying her tiredness for a while longer she paid her fare then departed the vehicle.  
She made the short journey up the stairs and through the front gate to be confronted by Yuka. Nana could see the fire building up in her lungs.

"For how long has this been going on, Nana?" her voice squealed as an alternative to biting Nana's head off there and then.  
"Eighteen months, two weeks, four days. I'll get a better…"  
"Not another word, Nana. Bed. Now."

Nana trudged inside, removing her shoes and coat leaving Yuka lost in a foul-mouthed tirade behind,. She passed Kohta who was waiting at the foot of the stairs, not bothering to look at him in shame, and made her way upstairs to see Mayu outside their bedroom. Her step-sister raised her right hand and fashioned it into a sympathetic bull-horns stance. Nana returned it alongside a tired smile and the word "Thanks".  
Mayu watched Nana stagger into their room and take up her usual futon closest to the windows, stand still facing the dawn that was seeping through and literally collapse undone on top of her limbs for the second time in an hour. Mayu smiled, then turned to a closet inside the room. Opening the door she found her radio/cassette deck and pressed STOP on the cassette recorder. Removing the tape from the deck she put it back in its sleeve, joined it with another tape and placed a rubber band around it. Adding the pair to an enormous pile next to the deck she shut the door and returned to bed.

"That could be the last ever tape." Mayu spoke, trying to get herself comfortable facing Nana.  
"How many do you have?" Nana grunted.  
"812 two-hour tapes, two per show"  
"Shut up, there's not enough room in that closet."  
"Alright, I've got forty-six tapes. Aside the dailies I always keep the monthly specials."  
"… might start trawling through them after college tomorrow while I look for another job."  
"You're sure they canned you?"  
"I dunno, they didn't say. What time are we getting up?"  
"About an hour, the first lecture's at 10."  
"Hell's teeth…"

Sleep met them both for a short while.


	2. Discrepancy

**DISCLAIMER: **I still don't own these characters.

Nana's been rumbled, are her halcyon days nearing an end? Or are they merely beginning?

* * *

**CHAPTER TWO**

* * *

A handful of miles away off the coast, back at Nana's former home, Director Kazuzawa was more than a little busier than he would have been at half-seven in the morning, his breakfast occupying a side-table while he tended to some official paperwork, noisily munching on fried bread. His intercom buzzed into life, almost causing him to spill his coffee over the forms and sending him into a mild state of panic. Swallowing the bread he wiped his mouth, brushed his hair and addressed the device-  
"What is it, damn you? I'm busy!"  
"Sir, I'm here with the generator output statistics you wanted" – Arakawa's voice. He detested it at the best of times, especially now when concentration was vital.  
"Oh..um..yeah, thanks. Come on in." 

Arakawa entered his large office holding a huge ream of computer paper, four times as thick as the meagre form Kakuzawa was busy tending to. Yawning, she presented him with the ream with the best smile she could manage at this hour and he took a quick scan of the opening summary. The news didn't appear to be good – he finished his tepid cup and threw it at a nearby wall, startling her. He collected himself and beckoned her to remain cool, then unfolded the ream and pored over the individual power breakdown. After a few moments he raised an eyebrow then addressed Arakawa-  
"Tricky, this. I was told that around 60 percent of the total output routed to the suspended animation chambers of our most dangerous specimens, but according to this the power's driven towards 13 specific rooms, and to the best of my knowledge we only have 12 such Diclonius…"  
"Sir, if I may say so, we still haven't shut down the power to Room #35 even though Mariko Kurama was killed 4 years ago. That may contribute to…"  
"I'm aware of that. Although it's good for you to raise that concern it still doesn't take the discrepancy into account. I want you to download a complete schematic of the facility to my terminal and personally count the number of rooms we have, and which ones are still active regardless of the tenants. Don't worry, all you have to do is look through the windows of the doors, you ought to be able to do that before 8:30."  
"Yes, sir."

"_Speaking_ of that little brat, her father finally grew a set of balls."  
"What do you mean, sir?"  
"I got a letter of resignation this morning, dated yesterday. Allegedly he's been in hospital for 4 years and he barely survived the blast that killed his kid."  
"Are you going to authorise that, sir?"  
"… yes I am, for two reasons. One- I haven't got any leverage on his sorry ass anymore, and Two- If he still thinks he's tied to us he'll never lead us to a certain loose end that could ruin everything we've strived for…"  
Arakawa looked puzzled for a second, then rolled her eyes. "… Number Seven."  
"Correct. And please don't give me that look young lady- I have no reason to believe she has been neutralised since the Lucy incident therefore as a _silpelit_ by now she will have reached complete physical maturity, meaning she could be even more _dangerous_ than Lucy. As for that woman herself, that's another matter for another day."

Arakawa observed that whilst being deadly serious on the matter he wasn't as angry as he could have been. Having worked for him since his son's death she'd seen him tend to the chambers personally on a somewhat more frequent basis, watching each experiment on each child. The more she saw with her own eyes the more she became appalled that the human race was capable of such acts, but she remembered that he beheld her own reactions with morbid laughter _at first._ Over time, however, it seemed he less genuinely upheld his sense of humour. Thinking of both of their attitudes she secretly knew that nobody could become completely desensitised to these atrocities. Not even him.

"I don't think I have anything else to add, Arakawa. Oh, and thanks for the breakfast, I'm finished. I just wish…" He stopped himself mid-sentence for no apparent reason.  
"…sir?" She replied with an arched eyebrow.  
"Nothing. I was listening to the radio about an hour and a half ago and something strange happened with the host. Nothing serious, but she finished up early. Could _you_ do that?"  
"Sir?"  
"Host a radio show."  
"Not sure, sir. I've got nowhere near as much patience as you, sir."  
Kakuzawa smiled. "I don't blame you. Get going, I need those plans so that I can bicker to the energy company before noon, even if we don't answer to the Diet we must still answer to the taxman. And get that stupid Ganso in here to clean the coffee up, bring me a fresh one when you're done. That'll be all."  
Arakawa left the office with the tray despite it still having a good portion of food, and Kakuzawa looked back at the statistics. He then looked at the radio on the side of the room and wondered aloud to himself-

"Such a sweet voice if a little grating at times… She does sound a little familiar, though…."

---

Arakawa paced along the corridors with a clipboard & pen in her hands, looking in through the doors of several nondescript rooms in the harsh light. She could barely tell it was morning at all, for all the scene portrayed time seemed to stand still no matter what her brain told her. She got to the first room in one such corridor and looked through the rectangular window, and through the large bay window in the control room- the light inside the chamber revealed it was unoccupied, but also betrayed a large patch of dark blood on the tiled wall at the back. She shivered at the sight of loose manacles hanging down from that spot and looked at the number on the door – 17.  
"_Seventeen, power on, unoccupied"_ she wrote down on her notepad, then moved onto the next one.

She gazed in through the next window along the line. Arakawa could see two researchers in the main chamber stood around four metres from the subject- a Caucasian girl with pig-tailed maroon hair in her early twenties appearing to have a fit, straining at her shackles whilst ranting and raving about wanting to speak to a lawyer. The scientists attempted to calm her down but failed- her manacles shattered instantly with loud _clanks_, and she made a dash for the left-hand side of the control room with a manic yell.  
Someone approached from the right-hand side with a large cattle prod, quickly striking her with it. Convulsing on the floor she vomited. Arakawa looked on in shock as two of the scientists hauled her up to her feet whilst her attacker injected a sedative into her neck. Tearfully she looked up to see Arakawa's stunned gaze, then lost consciousness.  
Arakawa gulped, then returned to her checklist- "_Eighteen, power on, occupied."_

Three rooms down the line she looked in through the door to see one of the newer subjects- a sixteen-year-old-looking boy with short turquoise hair looking on at a very agitated lady holding a tray of food. She looked at the boy's eyes- he never blinked them for an instant and they trailed his prey as she bent down with the food onto the floor, shaking like a leaf and whimpering with the fear of God in her. She stood up and cautiously backed away several metres, while the boy picked up the tray with a pair of vectors, drawing it towards his nose. He took a few pensive sniffs of the repast then his eyes widened. He looked right into the lady's own eyes with immense fury and she squealed, placing her arms up by her face to protect herself while looking though.  
The boy then softened his gaze and smiled, scooping a vector-finger of mashed potato and beginning to dine.  
"You nearly gave me a heart attack, you little…" the woman yelled.  
"_Sorry. it's delicious_" the boy replied. "_Thanks._"  
The woman made a hurried exit into the control room and out of the door, past Arakawa. She looked back at the boy for a second and noted down "_Twenty-two, power on, occupied_", looking over her shoulders. She then placed a single foot in the door-line to stop it from shutting, and walked inside for a moment.  
"Morning, Marvin!" she shouted.

"_Alright, 'kawa-san? Breakfast's good! You're not usually up this early, is there something up?"_  
"The boss is doing his taxes, and something's a bit iffy about them."  
"_Oh, grown-up stuff. I don't understand any of that._"  
"No problem. What have they told you they're doing today?"  
"_I'm on a week's rest. My cuts from the razor-room haven't had chance to heal yet."_  
"Hang in there, and we'll have you free in a month or so."  
"_I'll do it for you, sister. Thanks!_"

Arakawa left her friend behind, and started to cry into her hands. She met him about a year ago when they brought him in from Osaka and she'd made friends with him partly as she hadn't had a boyfriend since she began working there, and he'd appreciated her company in any event. She despised lying to him about letting him go especially as he'd never killed, and in spite of his boisterous personality he gave himself up to authorities without a fight. She'd heard of Dr. Kurama's exploits to a certain extent and – whilst she'd never met him – she'd been told by the other workers of his complex relationship with Nana up until he'd sprung her during _the crisis_, and she knew damn well that it was starting to happen to her, but unlike the Doctor she had no idea what to do about Marvin, and (for that matter) when.  
Wiping her eyes from underneath her glasses, she continued her sombre head-count.

-

A short while later she'd finished the 'regular' batch of Silpelits and she stood before a burly security guard in front of a metal gate. She flashed her identity card and spoke to him."I'm here to do a tally of the high-risk specimens. I won't be entering any of the chambers, I'm merely here to watch the monitors. Will I need an escort?"  
"One second, miss."  
The guard reached into his walkie-talkie to confirm her intent with the Director. After a brief exchange he shook his head at her, then beckoned her to pass her card to him to begin the clearance process. Placing her card in a slot in the gate he then ordered her to look through an eye-scanner built into the wall and place her right hand onto a plastic tablet to the side of it. Complying, she waited a few moments for the computer in the wall to confirm her ID. The gate opened itself slowly with a foreboding whirring noise, and she passed through whilst thanking the guard for his patience.

She walked through a large corridor to find herself in a foyer leading in every direction to twelve large, menacing rooms told apart only by numbers- One, Two, Eight, Nine, Thirteen, Twenty, Twenty-Seven, Thirty-Two, Thirty-Five, Forty-One, Forty-Six and Fifty. Each corridor leading to a chamber had around four monitors embedded on a wall, pointing at the subjects with never-ending impartial gazes, and in the middle of the foyer stood two tables- a permanent table with intercoms, telephones, monitors and panic-buttons of several types; the other table was a cheap wooden affair with a cosier-looking seat next to it holding several books on top. She looked at the books- children's stories and schoolbooks. She picked up a school journal book bearing the legend _Kurama Kensuke, 1-4_ and she thumbed through it, shaking her head- memories passed from father to daughter with hope and faith, eventually for nought.

Arakawa then looked at the monitors adjacent to the corridor leading to Room 35. Half-expecting to find a masked ghoul wandering inside the chamber aimlessly she saw nothing at all- far worse in her eyes. In her mind Mariko wandered the four corners of the earth in a doomed search for her parents, the only people who cared if she lived or died.  
"I care." She muttered under her breath.

"Sorry?" a male voice spoke up.  
She jumped on the spot and looked around the foyer. She found a janitor mopping the floors with eager dedication looking in her direction.  
"Nothing, Ganso. Um… I wasn't aware you had clearance for this area."  
"I don't, the guard buzzed me through."  
"Right… okay. The boss wants you to wipe a mess in his office in a minute."  
"Alright, miss" Ganso replied. She noticed the buff-looking young man pick up his mop and bucket, then walk briskly back towards the gate. Impressed by his physique, her concentration fell off the fate of Number Thirty-Five as she idly wondered why a man of his looks ended mopping floors in such a place.

"_One, power on, occupied… Two, power off, unoccupied. Eight…_" She got down to business.


	3. What washes and what doesn't

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't any of these characters or sports managers.

Whilst Kakuzawa frets about the electricity bill and Arakawa worries about the fate of the immortal soul of one of Kamakura's growing list of urban legends, Nana prepares to offer her own up in order to apologise to Yuka…

* * *

**CHAPTER THREE**

* * *

"PAPA!!… Help me, my arms, my legs… … aww man…" 

Nana awoke in her own bed with a start then immediately fell backward, her head collapsing on her pillow. Staring at the ceiling she recalled the brutal death-match between her mind and her body a while earlier, and upon remembering the result she wanted little more than to take a vector and shove it two-knuckles-deep into her own eyeballs. Speaking to herself in tongues that would shame Kurama forever she regarded the clock in her bedroom. It was Noon.  
"_Blast it, why didn't she wake me?_" Nana thought, then scrambled to get up from her bed and reach for her limbs. Looking down she found herself in her underwear and couldn't remember getting undressed when she got back. Puzzled for a moment she went through the possibilities in her mind but none of them made sense.  
Mayu couldn't have done it as surely Nana was still cogent just before passing out, Yuka she wasn't sure about as that human hairdryer was still turned on full-blast, Kohta… no, far too creepy- even though biologically they were pretty much on the same page she still looked up to him as an older brother / step-dad above all else, and besides in _that _regard he already had his hands full with Yuka and… and…

"_Eliminate the impossible, Dr. Nana, then whatever's left... Lucy._"

Nana reached for her limbs and got out of her futon, yawning, and for no reason other than to take advantage of stolen time she started to perform a simple exercise routine she'd normally reserved for weekends- press-ups, abdominal crunches and hand-stands. It went okay up until the latter stage whereupon she lost concentration and landed square on her head, falling backwards onto her front. After more Blu language she relinquished her battle, electing to pop downstairs to the bathroom for a quick wizz and more time asleep before explaining the guilty story to Yuka in more detail. On getting dressed into a dark blue T-shirt and track pants, leaving the bedroom she quickly spotted the flaw in that plan- Yuka was nowhere to be seen. Or, for that matter, anyone else.  
Trudging downstairs she reached the bathroom and set around her business whilst staring at the floor disconsolately, trying to maintain her consciousness with as much dignity as possible. Eighteen months of death during the day and life during the small hours rained punches on her guts, heart and soul for the first time since leaving 'Home' and in spite of Mayu's collaboration she could tell Yuka had kept an eye on her, waiting for her to slip up at any moment; hence her reaction as Nana walked the plank inside was one of disappointment and anger but certainly not surprise. What _was_ surprising was that Yuka wasn't there to give her the Alex Ferguson treatment, but it offered Nana no relief. Other than the kitchen there wasn't a spot of noise in the entire Inn, so naturally the kitchen came calling to Nana's addled mind once she flushed the toilet.

"_Spidey-sense… dud. Nyu's on duty."_

Entering the kitchen she discovered her second-best friend cohabiting her one-time-worst enemy's body as usual, kneading the tee and skirt Nana wore to work in a soapy bathtub on the floor in between her usual "Nyu" mutterings. Nana observed that in the last four years Nyu was the person who'd changed the least- still the same girl-trapped-in-a-woman she started a fight with on first sight, same unbearably adorable red Shojo/bug-eyes and long hair to match, horns fully grown back. The one outward difference Nana smiled at was a small tattoo on the side of her head just above her left ear- a bullseye with the letter K in red ink in the middle, the 'target' cloven in two by a penny-sized scar.Nana wondered for a second if Nyu understood enough of the situation to lend a sympathetic ear, and approached her.

"Morning, Nana-chan!" Nyu shrieked loud enough to pierce Nana's eardrums. She cried back and fell on her butt, begging Nyu not to shout so loud.  
"Where _is_ everybody?"  
Nyu collected herself for a second to launch into a long sentence, then proceeded – "Kohta has gone to work at the clothes shop, Mayu is in coll-lege and she has Ger-man lec-tures today, Yuka is waiting for her plane to Lon-don and she's very an-gree at you. She's been using a lot of bad words today. How are you fee-ling?"  
"My head hurts", Nana replied. "I was supposed to be doing German as well today and I've missed it."  
"It doesn't matter, Lucy-san rang up coll-lege and told the tu-tors you were very ill."  
Nana looked at her strange for a second, then remembered- The two personalities were finally aware of each other's existence and could also remember patches of what they did, yet still managed to remain as separate entities.

"Can I speak to Lucy? I need some advice."  
"Sure thing, Nana-chan. Please wait a minute" Nyu replied, then reached into a drawer and produced a wooden mallet. The next thing she did shocked Nana rigid- she took the mallet and promptly bashed it into the side of her own face.  
"Nyuuu, I missed!" she cried, then repeated the feat.  
"Owww, not hard enough!"  
Tears were welling up and Nana stood there with a guilty smile. After a few swift repetitions Nana pulled a vector to stop Nyu's trembling hands.  
"It doesn't matter, don't be so silly. I don't think you can force her to come out if she doesn't want to, Nyu. You're hurting yourself over nothing, you silly girl."  
Nyu hugged her. "Nyu so sorry, I won't do it again! Does Nana forgive Nyu?"  
"Yeah, I forgive you. Now, let me take a look at that wound."  
Nana looked at the reddening space over the tattoo- she hadn't bled it but it looked extremely sore. Before thinking of applying a cold flannel to it, Nana hit on an idea.  
"Nyu, will you trust me for a second?"  
"Yes, Nana-chan."  
Nana took off her right arm and smoothed the vector over Nyu's sore skin for a second, then tapped tattoo hard once.

Nyu's eyes widened… and a bomb went off in Nana's brain. She fell backwards, clutching her head while the Diclonius in front of her clutched her own and slumped to her knees in pain. Replacing her arm Nana watched her rise to her feet and look at the wooden object swearing at her on the floor.  
"My head hurts… Not that damn mallet again, there _must_ be an easier way. I see you're awake, Nana" Lucy addressed her. "Yuka asked me to ring ahead to say you weren't going in today."  
"Yeah, you… Nyu said that. Can I make an observation?"  
"Go on."  
"It's strange that Nyu can call you up at will but you can't seem to summon her."  
Lucy shrugged her shoulders. "The best way I know is falling asleep or thinking of the past. I still do both far too much. But there's only _one_ tiny mind in _your_ body and you've been out of it for a year and a half."  
Nana giggled. "That's about right. Still, I'm not going to pack it in now, we need the money. Oh, one other thing- Nyu said something about Yuka going to London today, any reason why?"  
Lucy put her palm to her face, agitated. "You forgot", she exclaimed.

"… Shit! The merger!" Nana gasped, holding her hands to her dome.  
"Correct. I don't think she's taken off yet, best get a quick call in. She won't be back for at least three days."  
Nana dashed out of the kitchen, panicking while Lucy shook her head, grinning like a loon. Turning towards the tub she looked at the contents, shrugged her shoulders and started to resume where Nyu left off, but then looked at a packet of starch by the side and stood there, mouth agape. Lucy took the clothes out of the tub- they looked like they would have barely fitted Nana back when she first met her.  
"…Oops" she chuckled, hand-on-mouth.

Nana reached her coat near the front door, and saw a yellow Post-It note on the sleeve facing her, yelling "YOU CAN GIVE THOSE UP AS WELL!!!" at her in red ink. One sniff of the leather and it didn't take a certain detective to figure out what Yuka was raging about. She reached back into her inside pocket to produce her cell phone and held the #2 key to speed-dial Yuka, waiting patiently. Her mind burned as he tried to figure out exactly what she had to say and how to do it- grovelling with apology? Defiant in that the job was something useful she took pride in? And does Yuka really need more stress to deal with on the way to her company's biggest achievement since joining fresh off graduating last year? Still a rookie to the electronics business, Yuka struggled with the finer points of negotiation but impressed her seniors with her unfaltering optimism and firm diplomacy, and Nana barely stood a cat-in-hell's chance of equalling this.

"_Hello, Nana_" Yuka's annoyed voice answered.  
"Sorry, I forgot about your trip completely" Nana began to say, but Yuka cut her off-  
"_You're old enough to understand that I'm __**very **__disappointed in you, Nana. I see that you're trying to help out and I appreciate that, but your College work __must__ come first. I suppose Mayu was in on this as well?_"  
"… yes, she helped out."  
"_I see. I'd __like__ you to quit that nonsense but something tells me you're not about to do that_."  
"I was going to say I'm trying to get a better time-slot, but at this rate if I've still got that job I'll be lucky. All I want right now is to keep myself out of the way because if Kakuzawa finds us…"  
"_Nana, look- I know that you're doing this to survive but I doubt he's going to be chasing you forever. Strangely enough you have a__ future__ to look forward to, but you need an education to keep up with it especially if what you say about you ageing too fast is true._"  
"Don't remind me. In about fifteen years time I'll be old enough to be your mom."  
"_Brrrr, what a concept that is!_" Yuka _appeared _to lighten up for a moment- "_I'll be in London until Monday at the latest, if I were you I'd stay at home for today and hope the studio can get you on once every other day or something. But I __**insist**__ that you give up the cigarettes. Am I clear?"_  
"Yes, Yuka, I'll do that" Nana replied with a sigh. "Good luck with your talks."  
"_I'll manage. Can you put Kohta on?"_  
"He's already gone to work, it's Wednesday."  
"_Oh yes, that's right. I'll have to try his cell. Take care of yourself, you hear?"_  
"I will, Yuka. Again, I'm sorry. Bye!"  
"_Bye._"

Nana walked back towards the kitchen to find some sausages to sacrifice for breakfast, passing a worried Lucy on the way. She disappeared inside the kitchen for a moment, hearing the front door shut behind her, before screaming at the top of her lungs.  
"THOSE COST ME TEN GRAND, YOU ASSHOLE!"  
Storming out of the front door, mallet in hand, she found her on-off nemesis pacing towards the front gate, whistling nervously. Nana shut the door behind her and Lucy turned to face her, apparently regressing back to...  
"…. Nyu?"

Nana shook her head, grinning, and batted the mallet in her hands.  
"You gon' meet my friend PAIN!"  
_Thwack._


	4. Price check on Hubris, please

**DISCLAIMER**: I don't own the main Elfen Lied characters.

Of the worst things you could do with a narcoleptic DJ with family problems, ruining her clothes in the wash ranks higher than you think.

* * *

**CHAPTER FOUR**

* * *

Kohta stood behind the desk, deeply embarrassed to have his job. Dressed in a baby-blue polo shirt with a big red-with-yellow-polka-dot bow tie that screamed 'please kill me', he fiddled with a red biro behind the main shop counter drawing phalli onto a lined notepad. Considering going back to college and re-sitting French to learn the phrase "No, we don't do it in that size but there's a tent shop three blocks down", he stared at the clock that was cackling at him on the wall- 1:35pm. Custom was pretty light even though it was a Wednesday in late May, and surprisingly swimwear sold well mostly to slightly plump teenage girls who gave themselves a target weight to slim towards- aside the todgers that graced Kohta's notepad were phrases akin to "Blonde girl in pink dress with lavender sash, size 8 uni, 33/1" and "Brunette with Okayama accent, 6 uni, evens", a small money-bag with Yen coins and Post-It notes aside. 

"You'll need a mortgage come August", a voice came over his shoulder. Kohta looked back and saw his immediate superior, a girl three years younger than him with a pig's nose and giant buck-teeth.  
"Why, am I getting canned then?" Kohta replied with disgust.  
"Nope, you know the elephant with a green wig that bought a 12 bikini last week? You put her down 175-2."  
"What about her?"  
"I saw her come out of the pharmacy last week with a truckload of diabetes medication, needles & all."  
Kohta thought for a second and banged his head on the counter hard.

"I'll give it till Friday then close the book."  
"Coward!"  
"Guilty, Remi-chan" Kohta shot back with a smile."When's the next lot of red peep-holes coming in, we've had calls all morning for those!"  
Remi shook her head, then disappeared out the back. Kohta returned to his thoughts of self-destruction whilst taking the biro to the offending scripture and scrawling the digit '1' out of existence, when the door opened. In walked a man dressed in a hospital gown on crutches, with a missing left leg.

Asking for assistance, the man adjusted the glasses to see Kohta take a sigh of relief as if to say 'heeey, business!' and tend to him. Kohta approached him and visibly shrank back for a second, spotting that the man had a thin-skinned, heavy-scarred jaw that showed the complete mandible and attaching muscles. Kohta immediately apologised for his conduct.  
"It's alright", the man replied. "I was in a bad accident many years ago and I've only just got out of the General this morning. Could you help me find some casual wear, I haven't bought clothes in a good while."  
"Certainly sir, do you know your sizes?"  
"Actually, I think I've lost weight. Could you measure me?"  
"Absolutely". Kohta dashed behind the desk and produced a measuring tape, getting to work with gusto. Writing the gentleman's sizes down he directed him around the gents-wear section with diligent patience, allowing him to fit several tees, trousers and shorts to his body. Satisfied with his choices the man asked to be directed to the changing rooms, and Kohta opened the curtain for him.

"In a moment, can you show me some dresses, size 7?" the gentleman asked.  
"Any reason, sir?"  
"Yes, there's a lady I haven't seen for a long time and she's been waiting for me to get out, I'm getting her a present as a surprise."  
"Oh, cool. I'll leave you to change, lemme know when you need me!" Kohta replied, cheerfully. He returned to his station for a moment when he noticed the door swing open again. He looked upon a certain red-haired girl and his jaw dropped.  
"Lucy, I told you not to come out without wearing a… Good God, what happened to you?" he asked, and a crutch dropped to the floor in the changing room behind.

"That idiot Nyu washed Nana's clothes with too much starch and I got a mallet upside the head as a result. I need some Crystal Ship gear, can I bum ¥10,000 off you for a month?" she replied.  
"Honestly, Lu, you two can get really catty at times but this takes the biscuit. Your eye's shot to shit, it needs ice."  
"Already done that. It's my own stupid fault in a way, it's hard enough handling Nyu but when I need to start leaving her notes and shit, it shows what a mess I'm still. Can you pay for the stuff?"  
"Get a job and we'll talk about it. But not here, these morons freak out enough at _acne_ let alone horns sticking out of heads!"  
"_Never in this world_", the gentleman in the cubicle spoke- Lucy recognised that voice and froze.  
Dr. Kurama pulled the curtain back and gave Lucy a steely glare.

-

Looking him in the eyes she stared to back away, then fell down whilst never diverting her stare.  
"What the _hell_ happened to you?" She asked under her breath as Kohta just observed, clueless.  
"That blast four years ago, remember it, Lucy?"  
"I haven't forgotten."  
"I lost a leg and a lot of skin, my back was almost crushed. My daughter Mariko was killed in the blast but she shoved me aside just before she blew up. And how are _you_ doing, murderess?"  
Lucy's lips quivered for a second in pure fear, then she clutched her head and cried out, dashing out the front of the shop with Kotha in pursuit. After a few feet she slumped to her knees and Kohta wrapped around her. Kurama followed them out front, and he saw her climb to her feet, looking him in the eyes.

"… Nyu?"  
Kurama raised his eyebrow in surprise, as Kohta glared at him. Turning towards here Kohta cupped her cheeks and said "Nyu… It's Okay, Kohta's here. Everything's alright."  
She cheered up immediately- "Nyu! Kohta… Nyu sorry, I ruined Nana's clothes" she said apologetically.  
"You know Nana?" Kurama asked.  
"Yes, she's my best friend in the whole world!" Nyu squeaked excitedly. "Um… who are _you_?"  
That hit the Doctor like a shot of cyanide to the veins.  
"He's a friend of Lucy's, aren't you?" Kohta spoke up, nodding frantically to beg the Doctor to play along.  
"… yes, I'm a friend of Lucy's. I haven't seen her in a long time, I've just got out of hospital."  
"Did she hurt you at all? Bad Lucy, bad Lucy!" Nyu called out sternly whilst stamping her feet and slapping her own face, to which Kurama almost stifled a chuckle. He started to speak but then noticed the tattoo on the side of her head.  
"Can I have a look at that? It looks sore." He asked.  
"That silly drawing belongs to Lucy, I don't like it" Nyu spoke up as Kurama approached her, running his burned hand over the tattoo. He started to say "It looks like something out of a comic book" but then he noticed the scar running down it and his eyes widened- in an instant he remembered that terrible massacre back at the facility, with Lucy marching towards the edge of the cliff wearing her helmet, turning her head around to catch the sniper's bullet on the side and falling to the sea…

"Don't worry, it looks cute on you. Can I speak to your friend for a second?"  
"Yeah, alright. Kohta, can I go look at clothes? I think Lucy said she was going to get some for Nana."  
"Uh… yeah, Nyu. Don't make too much of a mess."  
Nyu dashed back inside gleefully, with Kurama shaking his head for a moment.

"I… I'm sorry for causing a scene like that. There's bad blood between us and most of it's my fault." Kurama began to speak.  
"_Kohta! Did Lucy say what Nana wanted?" _Nyu called from inside.  
"Um… Crystal Ship, Nyu. Don't worry, I'll pay for it."  
_"Okay! Wheee, I think she'll like this!_"  
"Can I ask you a favour…" Kurama asked.  
"Kohta's my name."  
"Nice to meet you, My name is Dr. Kurama. Did you say you know Nana?"  
"Yeah, she lives with us."  
"_Impossible!_" Kurama's mind exclaimed. He never imagined he would be so close to happiness after living with his own guilty conscience in his hospital bed. "… can I see her?" he asked excitedly.  
"I don't know, she's going through a rough patch at the minute, she's burned out from her Radio job and she fell asleep at work this morning. But… well… I don't mean to impose on you as you've just got out, but can I ask you to come home with us anyway? I've got questions about how well you know Lucy."  
The Doctor noticed that Kohta's speech was a little more forceful than before, and he could tell that this man some ten-plus years his junior had seen enough of Lucy to hold some small hope that even now another human being had enough faith in her to redeem herself. "_Maybe he's seen Lucy at her best as well as her worst."_

"Alright, I'll come home with you, I've got a cab waiting for me. What's the deal with 'Nyu'?"  
"That's how we found her 4 years ago, that was all she said for a while until we started to call her that. It's like two completely different people in one brain."  
"Was it like she'd lost her memory or something?" Kurama asked. Kohta nodded- "We found her with an open head wound, I've no idea how she got it. For a little while it _seemed_ like she had amnesia, but at times when she acted like this she wanted to hold me and not let go, and when she was 'normal' for a long time she was too scared to face me … Let's talk a little more when we get home, alright?"  
Kurama smiled – enmity aside he was pleased she was starting to get her life back in order. Kohta went to go back inside and turned around again.

"Oh, uh, silly question time- you can afford the gear, yes?" he asked Kurama.  
"Huh?… oh, yes, Is Visa okay?"  
"Sure thing."  
"I'll pay for Nana's clothes as well."  
"No, Doctor, I couldn't let you…"  
"I _insist._" Kurama stated, urgently. Kohta thought for a second and merely smiled as they went back inside to collect Nyu and tell Remi that Kohta was signing off early after the successful sale.

---

"Hello?" The person talked into the cellphone.  
"_My hunch was correct. The package was sent this morning_" the voice answered. "_I didn't follow it all the way; a distraction came up so I had to take care of it._"  
"Any idea when you've got to escort it, and where to?"  
_"Actually, it's being sent to the main destination direct."_  
"Impossible! But how… hah, never mind. Good job, Agent B. Want to meet for a drink in a day or two?"  
"_Just like old times. I'll never forget the favour you did me._"  
"All the bigger favour you've done me. Bye bye."

---

The cab ride was fairly uneventful, if long-winded. Even thought the hospital paid the fare in advance the driver was kicking himself as they'd spent enough time in late-spring beach traffic to qualify as 'parked' without actually coming to a stop. Nyu spent much of it with her head on Kohta's shoulder, cooing whilst looking at the fairly swish clothing in her bag. Her eyes lit up every once in a while when she caught Kohta's puppy-dog looks, and Kurama barely resisted the urge to bawl out in tears every time as they reminded him of his courting days so many years ago.  
"Have you two been an item since… this all died down?" he felt the need to ask  
Kohta bit his tongue for a second to avoid mentioning Yuka. "Yeah, and in a way long before that. I first met Lucy when I was about nine or ten on my school holiday, she'd been bullied at an orphanage and went missing not long after a serious accident there. We hit it off quite well, but something bad happened and we didn't see each other at all until about… jeez… this time four years ago. Wow, I doesn't seem that long does it?"  
"Nyu!" the girl chipped in.

"May I ask what… never mind, I think that's too indiscreet a question." Kurama backed down.  
Kohta shook his head. "That's alright, Doctor. The _question_ isn't indiscreet, but the _answer_ is; I won't say it here because Nyu doesn't know and Lucy isn't over it yet. Now I think of it, _I'm_ barely over it myself."  
"Sorry if I've troubled you, I didn't mean to upset you."  
"I said it's alright. We all make peace when the time comes. Hey, we're almost here!"

Kurama thought no more of it as the cab pulled up to the bottom of the steps to the Kaede Inn. He thanked the driver on the way out of the taxi with Kohta and Nyu heading swiftly up the steps, and he followed in his own sweet time, taking a look around the place. He was confident that if there was ever a safe haven from the madness he'd waited all this time to escape it would certainly look something like a magnificent restaurant in a secluded area near the woods. Breathing in and out uniformly to clear his nerves, he took a step through the open threshold.

He woke up four minutes later staring at the sky, with a woman's face bearing over him in shock.

-

"PAPA! Papa, can you hear me?" she screamed at him. His eyes locked onto hers and didn't blink.  
"_I can't hold them off forever, Nana! Damn it, why didn't Kohta buy a goddamn gun?" _another woman's voice called out not too far away. It was too deep to be Nyu's.  
Nana looked back at her and shouted in anger "Three more minutes and help'll _be_ here! They cut him off earlier today, he was looking out for Papa! Papa, _can you hear me_?"  
"_I'm telling you, Nana, this can't wait. I don't want to have to take them myself…_"  
"Screw your pride, Lucy! If Kakuzawa sent these jerks they're fair game!... Papa, please wake up!"  
"I'm awake! Nana, I'm awake!" he yelled out. "What the hell's going on?"

* * *

**NEXT: **Surprises in store for more than one person. 


	5. Am I interrupting something?

**DISCLAIMER: **I still do not own these characters.

The happy reunion between Nana and her Papa is on temporary hiatus as it appears that someone has a vested interest in wiping them off the face of the earth…

* * *

**CHAPTER FIVE: 240 SECONDS EARLIER**

* * *

Dr. Kurama walked through the front gate and was flung forward by an explosion from just behind, as Nyu and Kohta spun around to face him. Kurama landed on his head and his body flipped over straight onto his back. Trying to sit up but failing he took a blurry look at the two people, seeing a third dash through the front door as his vision (and neck) failed him.  
"PAP" Nana started to yell but Kohta swiftly covered her mouth, then took a swift look around: The gate was partly destroyed by the blast, covering the entranceway badly enough to prevent easy access on foot. Kurama was out cold yards in front of the wreckage, bleeding from his right side. Kohta also noticed that whoever had caused the blast balked at the chance to take advantage of the element of surprise, preferring to stay hidden for the moment as if…  
"Something tells me whoever did this wasn't after him" he said. "They must have tailed us in our cab."

Nana bit his finger to get him to take his hand away, and as he recoiled she grabbed his shirt. "That's not possible!" she barked.  
"Why not?"  
"I… was told by a friend he left the hospital today and I asked him to watch over Papa, I couldn't wait to see him but I didn't want Papa to come _here_ because I knew it wouldn't be safe…"  
"So what happened to your friend?"  
"God knows. But we've got to get outta here and get help for Papa! We need…"  
She turned to Nyu with a perfectly straight look on her face. Nyu looked right back at her with utmost dread.

"Lucy?"  
Nana nodded. "Stand still, we don't need that stupid mallet."  
Holding Nyu's chin with her left hand Nana licked the fingers of her right and smoothed it over the already-reddened scar on Nyu's head, then repeated her trick of firmly tapping it with Samurai dexterity. Both Dicloni jerked backwards with headaches in front of a bemused Kohta, and Nana prayed that the success of that morning was repeated.

Lucy clutched the wound for a second, then looked at Nana, nodding her head. "_You called, Nana? God, what a nightmare! I dreamed that I was in this clothes store and Kurama – of all people – came walking out… aah._" Lucy spotted the Doctor unconscious on the floor. Racing over to him she kneeled over and inspected the damage.  
"_What did this_?" Lucy asked under her breath, urgently.  
"Possibly a grenade" Nana replied. "He's bleeding, can you see how bad it is?"  
Lucy gripped Kurama with her vectors and slowly span him over, slashing part of his gown away and feeling along his bare back to find the source. After lying him back down she beckoned Nana over to stand next to her.  
"_He's got a long but shallow gash running along his kidneys, nothing a bit of Vaseline won't fix for the minute. Plan?_"  
Nana brushed her hair back in thought for a moment.

"Right. You're on point, Lucy. We need to find out where they're stashed, and I need you to hold them off until I can see where my _friend _is at"  
"_I don't want to kill anybody._" Lucy replied.  
"If all goes well, blood needn't be spilt by vectors today. Kohta, fetch my cell-phone from my coat please!"

Kohta obliged while Nana nervously paced around the front garden. Lucy approached the remnants of the front gate, sticking her head a mite above the wreckage and panning her eyes around from left to right. After a scan or two she settled her gaze on some suspicious movement in the grass field beyond the wrecked hedges. Holding her look for one second she spotted the barrel of an MP5 machine gun betray its presence.  
"_I was beginning to worry"_ Lucy smirked. She then snaked one of her vectors to slice off part of the remaining overhead beam of the gate, and chucked it at the pack in front. The returning burst of gunfire – easily blocked – affirmed their location, to which Lucy merely smiled and flipped her assailants the bird. An unexpected burst of automatic gunfire from the steps was met with somewhat less bullishness. Lucy retreated behind the heap and split her block with one set of vectors to the left whilst keeping her forward guard up. "_Relax, it just needs a bit more concentration that's all_" she said to herself unconvincingly. "_Nana, I hope your ace in the hole shows up!" _

She looked back at Nana, finding her yelling into her cell-phone with no uncertain (and several profane) terms. On finishing her harsh call Nana ducked down and immediately raced to Kurama, lightly slapping him awake.  
"PAPA! Papa, can you hear me?" she screamed at him. His eyes locked onto hers and didn't blink.  
"_I can't hold them off forever, Nana! Damn it, why didn't Kohta buy a goddamn gun?" _Lucy called back at her, agitated.  
Nana looked back at her and shouted in anger "Three more minutes and help'll _be_ here! They cut him off earlier today, he was looking out for Papa! Papa, _can you hear me_?"  
"_I'm telling you, Nana, this can't wait. I don't want to have to take them myself…_"  
"Screw your pride, Lucy! If Kakuzawa sent these jerks they're fair game!... Papa, please wake up!"  
"I'm awake! Nana, I'm awake!" he yelled out. "What the hell's going on?"

"We're under attack, Papa!"  
"This I can see" he replied. "It looks to me like the Director's not going to accept my resignation note."  
"Enough of that, are you hurt bad?"  
"My neck hurts… and I broke my watch. Bastards."  
"Help's on it's way… I pray."

---

"Nana, that was really great. You really handled yourself well there under that sort of pressure."  
"Well, people _tell_ me I'm a great talker."  
"You really are. I'd tell you that we'll let you know in the mail in the next week but to be frank… I'd like to offer you the job right now, if you'd like to take it."  
"Really?"  
"Yep."

Nana, eight-and-a-half years old, stood in front of the well-dressed man in his office and could barely believe that she'd been accepted for her first job at the first time of asking. Papa would be so proud if she ever got the chance to tell him. With barely a moment's hesitation she spoke up:  
"… Okay, I accept, thank you _very_ much! When do I start?"  
"That's the thing, you see… because of all this media crap that's going on about the Diclonius as a _race_ we feel we need to keep you under the radar for a little bit…"  
"Meaning…"  
"4AM tomorrow."  
Nana winced. "… Okay, I'll give it a shot."  
"Seriously? Don't you have studies the following day? I know you're seventeen…"  
"I'll manage. Thank you very much for the offer again. Oh, and about the 'name' thing, sir? I assume you don't want me to use my real name because of that whole Diclonius thing, right?"  
"Yeah, Nana. Can you make up some sort of… gimmick?"  
"I see what I can do. See ya tomorrow!"

The manager smiled at Nana and shook her firmly by the hand. She left the studio the happiest she'd ever been and immediately took out her brand new cell-phone to tell Mayu the good news. After a good natter she put on a well-worn baseball cap on her head and started to walk home in the late afternoon, skipping and humming to herself.  
With a bridge in view she took a look at the blue sky, spotting light clouds darting to the right, birds chirping to her left agitated, a throng of people gathered at the foot of the bridge staring upward... and a man on top of the bridge with a rope around his neck, the other end attached to a lamp-post.  
Wide-eyed with fear she looked around, wondering what to do for a moment. She spotted a set of steps leading up to the bridge and raced up them, ducking underneath the stone wall to the side so that the man on the bridge hopefully wouldn't see her.  
He looked over the edge to see a small handful of people staring him in the eyes, telling him not to go through with the suicide. He looked at the twisted, rusted metal that existed where his right arm used to be and his left-hand, blistered and scarred.

"I've got nothing left, you hear? You bastards better listen to my last words! That bitch with the horns took everything I ever had and there's nothing left for me! If you don't want to see me die, turn your frigging heads now!" he yelled out. He took one step forward, praying his body would follow suit into oblivion. It _started_ to oblige but violently jerked to the left, bringing him to the ground. Not taking this insult well he turned around to spot his unwelcome saviour towering overhead. The moment he laid eyes on her the rope around his neck appeared to sever itself as if to confirm her identity. He recognised her and wept loudly, his one desperate chance of absolution robbed at the last second.  
She turned away momentarily, removing her cap to assert her intentions to the stunned crowd.

"You didn't see this happen, none of you! You didn't remember it either, correct?" she yelled at the top of her voice. They all nodded obediently and begin to fizzle out below. She smiled, and without turning her attention to Bando she began to speak.  
"Good job the police didn't get involved, this could have been messy."  
"I will _kill_ you for this." Bando bawled. "I am going to find a knife and carve your throat out and hold it in front of your…. WHY? TELL ME YOU $-!!ING BITCH, **WHY?**"

"She's changed, Bando. I've changed. _You've_ changed. In just two-and-a-half years, _everything_'s changed. People are starting to become aware of our existence, and not all in a negative light. Horn-heads are making their voices _heard_, telling humans that they're capable of being _more_ than murderers and villainous scum, and people are starting to listen to them more than they're listening to Kakuzawa…"  
"Why should I give a shit about _him?_ He freaking fired me after Lucy beat me!" Bando uttered.  
"My nose made that perfectly clear" she snickered, and after a moment Bando acquiesced and ceased to cry for a moment. "You look like shit, Bando" – she continued – "But your needs have changed. Lucy's come on a long way since you last saw her but even if she hasn't killing her would be a really bad idea. It'll seem less like a favour to society and more like out-and-out murder. Don't get me wrong though, I still hate what she did to me."

"What she… ah yes, your limbs." Bando remembered with a smile. "For a kid you make a lot of sense. But you've given me no reason not to kill her other than 'she's a different person', and more to the point you've given me no reason not to kill _you_ for denying me release."  
"_Release_? Release from what exactly? What do you _believe_, Bando? That if you die God will forgive how much of a jerk you've been in life in one instant and let you play with the virgins? No, because you've done yourself in he's going to take his right foot and shove it straight into your nuts before sending you somewhere that'll make that kick seem like bliss. Or there's the worse alternative- you stay right here, looking at yourself from below, swinging from the bridge with a broken neck like the world's biggest cock dangling from a string. And you know what they're going to put in the papers? (**enunciating**) 'Disgraced soldier hangs self from bridge.' That's it. No obituary, no nothin'. You're telling me in all seriousness that's what you want from life now you can't have Lucy?"

"**Yes**. All I have left is pain, Nana. I dedicated myself to killing people because that's what I've been trained to do, and at the first chance I failed and I've come up with nothing to do in two-and-a-half years to stop it. If I can't take that pain out on her… what else can I do?"  
"_I can't believe I'm going to freaking suggest this" _Nana's brain cursed her. "Me."  
"Huh?"  
"I've profaned your final wish, Bando. I've robbed you of your sweet hereafter and I've insulted your dignity. If it makes you feel better…" she spotted a knife in his pants. Grabbing it with a vector she placed it into his left hand, grabbed his arm and held it to her throat, the point of the blade a mere inch in front of her jugular. "I offer you my life in Lucy's stead. Just as long as you get a goddamn wash and sort yourself out, I won't stop you."

Bando stared at her. She didn't blink, she just waited for him to take her up.  
"That's a steep price you're willing to pay for someone you allegedly hate" Bando spoke confidently. "Deal!"

Nana closed her eyes as Bando gripped on his blade and withdrew it for a moment. He then reversed the grip and sliced downwards, shredding Nana's top open to reveal her underwear.  
"One night, bitch. For one whole night I own you body, your mind, your heart and your soul and I get to twist, turn, tear, scratch, stab, shoot, bleed, poke and rail every orifice on my own whim. If you attempt to stop me at any time I will bury this knife in your head and then kill myself at the same time so nobody will find either of us. Anybody you've ever loved won't get to know your fate."

---

"_Come on, whoever you are!_" Lucy said, annoyed. "_I can do this all day but we need to get out of here, you lazy piece of shit!"_  
"We're moving in on the targets" one of the goons in the distance said on his radio. The pack gathered together slowly, marching onto Lucy's location hoping to pile in quickly to start getting heavier attacks in. Lucy took her eye off the ball for one second to yell at Nana to get everyone inside, but one of the attackers got a lucky shot on her unprotected ankle, and she fell to the ground clutching it.  
"Lucy!!!" Kurama shouted out at her.  
"_GET INSIDE NOW!"_ she replied. Using the debris to get back onto her good foot she looked out to find the central pack had reached the front gate, with the left-hand pack approaching fast. With absolutely no fear in her eyes she beckoned them to move forward to attempt to take her.

"Don't do it! Two metres, that's what the file says!" one of the soldiers iterated.  
"_Two metres, that's what the file says!"_ Lucy mockingly copied him.  
"Oh yes, very mature" the man spoke again. "The average blast radius of a grenade is around three metres, and we've got around five of those so if you think you can chuck 'em out as fast as we can pull 'em, you're welcome to try!"  
Lucy heard something clatter on the floor approaching from the left-hand side, and addressed the upstart solider-"_Um… you've got six. Unless the one on the floor without a pin ain't yours._"

"Sorry, that one's mine, I forgot!" a welcome voice called out from the left. That was the last thing the troops would ever hear.

* * *

**NEXT: **They giveth, they taketh away. 


	6. Honesty, and other trivia

**DISCLAIMER**: The only characters in this fic I own thus far are Marvin and Ganso, plus one more to come (for now) 

Nana saves Bando's soul from oblivion, possibly at the cost of her own. But can he really bring himself to lash out at someone who – truthfully- has nothing to do with his malice?

**

* * *

CHAPTER SIX

* * *

**

Nana, blindfolded and gagged and tied in manacles, could hear violence occurring right in front of her. She could hear a man's frenzied screams, she could hear hundreds of swooshes of air, hundreds of blows impacting and dozens of deranged cackles, amongst her own whimpers and cries. She could feel two and a half years of frustration, anger and sadness vented in her direction on her own promise that in order to save his life he could do anything and everything he wanted to do to Lucy on her own willing body. She heard him scream out Lucy's name amongst dozens of swearwords, and after several minutes such utterances became less frequent, mixed in with exhausted pants. Lastly she heard him slump in front of her, gripping her legs and sobbing quietly, apparently having his fill of bloodlust.

She physically felt precisely nothing until he grabbed her. Confused, she took a vector and removed her blindfold. They were both naked, and she was unharmed. He was in tears at her feet, a complete wreck consumed by undying hatred and - after all this time - the ultimate lack of will to implement it. She'd expected from his tone that he would maim her like the scientists had back at Home, and when done re-arranging her pale skin into gore he'd take advantage of her prone body with Lucy's face etched into his mind, irrespective of how either would feel about the experience; but after everything he told her he would do, he'd achieved precisely nothing of the sort. Instead the wooden walls bore deep scars of their own, sap and stain covering the gouges having bled from them some time ago. She could also see the knife she'd held to her own throat an hour or two before lying shattered on the floor. He laid his head on her ankles, whimpering slightly as she looked at him with complete disgust, shaking her head.

"Leave me in peace", Bando said. "I've sated myself."  
"I'll do no such thing, whelp" she replied. "I am yours for the _whole night_, remember? Was it just because it was me that you didn't hurt me with your knife, or was it because your obsession with Lucy lost its meaning once you lost your job?"  
"… Both, I think. Not only have I wasted my hate on her, I've wasted your time and… your sympathy as well."  
"Shut up, Bando. I am damn sick of hearing you run yourself down. _I'm _supposed to be the worthless creature. _I'm _supposed to be the one with no place in this world, and yet I've found both a place and some worth to me. Is it _really_ that difficult for you to find someone to be impressed at you enough to show confidence?"

"… Yes. I've had several women since I got canned and it always comes to this. Most of them tell me exactly the same things that you have, but coming from you it's all the harder to bear. Right now if I had Lucy in these shackles… I don't know if I'd have killed her either… you've honoured your promise, do what you please."  
"But you haven't honoured _yours_, Bando. I've got no guarantee that you won't lynch yourself as soon as I walk out of that door, and I will _never_ forgive you if you don't survive this."

That scared Bando half to death. Someone actually had the nerve to tell him to his face that she was angry with him – with no fear of reprisal – because he hadn't done his job properly. She actually had faith that he'd carry out his sick threats and hadn't cared for herself as long as he stayed true to his word. She… actually had faith in him.  
"Okay… because it's you telling me, I'll sort myself out. I'll find something to strive for and work towards it, I need my edge back" He submitted to her, looking her in the eyes like a small boy being admonished by his mother. "Sorry for pussying out."  
"That's more like it!" Nana chirped up. "You haven't been yourself for some time, it's about time you showed some passion… what time is it, anyway?"  
"About 7pm."  
Suddenly, Nana's cell-phone rang and she panicked a little- she hadn't had the chance to tell anyone where she was at. She looked at Bando a little concerned, and he relented- he loosened her chains and she dashed to her phone to answer it.  
"Mayu?… yeah, I'm OK. I'm still at the studio, actually- they called me back because they want me to be familiar with the equipment. It sounds a bit naughty I know but I'll be here all night… what? Oh, tell the folks I'm out with some college palls or something, I owe you one… groovy, I'll try and sneak in tomorrow morning, See ya then, bye!"

"What was _that_ about?" Bando asked.  
"I was actually starting a new job tonight, about 4 in the morning."  
"_4 in the morning_? Doing what?"  
"DJ-ing for some local radio station."  
"Seriously?"  
"Yeah."  
"… Cool. So you're _not_ just assing about waiting for a calling to drop in your lap, huh?"  
"Nope. As I say, I've found a place for me for now. As your saviour, I order you to do the same." She said in a mock-serious tone.

Bando took the shattered knife and held it to her throat, pinning her to the wall with fire in his eyes. She stood shocked in front of him, and he smiled at last.  
"As your captor and owner, I order you to drink with me in celebration at a bar of my choice."

---

"What freaking kept you?" Nana yelled out at Bando a year and a half later. He swaggered through the newest wreckage of the gate in big leather boots packing a pump-action shotgun that was currently superfluous. He took a huge drag of a beastly cigar in his mouth and grinned like an idiot at her.  
"Sorry I'm late, toots!" He bragged. "I had a run-in with some interesting company that I couldn't pass up. Turns out he _did_ send some goons to get you after all, I'll tell you all about it in a little while. Let's just say for now that whoever wants you dead… it _ain't_ Kakuzawa."  
Bando took a huge sniff of the carnage he'd just created and his nostrils swelled in appreciation. He sighed and looked around… His eyes met Lucy for the first time in an age. Her eyes just looked right back at him with no trace of emotion.

"You've barely aged a day, bitch" he addressed her with bravado. "Are you still your psychotic murderous self by any chance, or are you on the wagon at last?"  
"Nice to see you as well, Bando" Lucy sarcastically uttered. "I'd have thought Nana had slightly better taste in men, though."  
Just as Kurama got to his feet in the doorway Nana took a few steps forward to stand toe-to-toe with Bando looking him in the eyes, fists shaking. Then in full view of everybody she stood on her toes, wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him to her lips, to which he obliged.  
Lucy's eyes widened, as did Kurama's. This was news to both of them. Inside the kiss Bando took a free hand and flipped Lucy the bird, slapping Nana's back with the other and parting from her.

"Nice to be wrong, ain't it? I should know!" he laughed. "Not but eighteen months ago I was ready to throw it all away, but Nana here gave me a reason or two to keep on fighting. And now I'm returning the favour. Mind if I take charge of the situation, ladies and gents?" He looked at Nana, Lucy, Kohta and Kurama in turn; getting no resistance from any quarter. Lucy dropped the hostility to her human near-equal for a moment and stood to face him, shooting him a thin smile.  
"As good as it is to see that you've found someone who _doesn't_ believe you're a total douche, would you mind elaborating on the newsflash that it possibly _isn't_ the Director who wants Nana to die?"

"If you're all sitting comfortably, I'll begin…" Bando replied.

---

Arakawa ran down her brief checklist of specimens a few times to add the numbers up- thirty-eight regular Silpelits, eleven healthy high-risk Silpelits and one empty, unpowered chamber- Lucy's former home. She could think of no _particular _reason why they'd turned the lights off in Lucy's old room and not Mariko's, but took that thought no further. Leaving the restricted area she thanked the guard again and strolled past Room 22, finding the door wide open. She looked inside out of curiosity and found Kakuzawa talking to the young man inside. It was idle chit-chat at first but the Director dropped his light tone after a few minutes, looking to the floor. She couldn't help but walk into the control chamber to find out why he'd become so serious.

"I can't lie to you anymore, Marvin. You're a bright young man and you deserve to know the truth of the matter. The deal is… I'm being relieved of command, effective immediately. You're the first boy Diclonius we know of at all and I wanted to carry on experimenting on you because I think you're stronger and better than most of your kind, but people from the government have heard enough from me and want to take over for themselves. They know about you and want to keep you here for their own, I know it sounds kinda selfish but I've got great things in mind for you, my boy."  
"But all I want to do is go home, sir" Marvin protested. "I've never hurt anybody, you know that."  
"That's true, and I wouldn't ask you to" Kakuzawa lied. "But _they_ will, one day. If they don't kill you they'll make you into a killer like every other Diclonius."

"And there's nothing you can do to stop them?" Arakawa interrupted from behind.  
"I got the call not long after you left my office. They'll be here inside the hour to take control. They're going to steal my dreams from me, Arakawa, and it scares me shitless."  
"Dreams, sir?"  
Kakuzawa had put his foot in it this time. He'd told Kurama of his grand plan to use Lucy to revitalise his family's bloodline but he'd kept it from everybody else in the company, only hinting to Arakawa that somehow his plans involved her.  
"I need her back, Arakawa. I need Lucy back here in a bad way, to make all this worthwhile. They'd sooner have Lucy and Number Seven dead before entertaining any notion that a Diclonius can be reformed into human society, not that I especially care to tell you the truth. My desire for her is somewhat more selfish but at least I would have her live through this unharmed if possible. I told you earlier that Number Seven could wreck my plans for good if she put her mind to it, and that's still true. But at least she hates me _honestly._ She has a good reason to stop what I have in mind, one that doesn't involve crass profiteering. Arakawa, you may hate what I do…"  
"With a goddamn passion" she replied. "I think you're a creepy bastard who screws lives up needlessly."

Kakuzawa smiled. "You've every right to think that and make it known. But at least my cards are on the table, I've nothing to hide anymore. The only thing I'm worried about is if the government's already sent people to kill Lucy and Seven yet. It's only 9am now and they could both be dead before noon and I wouldn't know it."  
Marvin spoke up next- "Pardon me for being dense, sir, but what reason have they told you is it that they're taking over?"  
"It's about the electricity thing- we told them we have twelve chambers to hold the most dangerous Diclonius in, and… they claim we have thirteen. If I can find the thirteenth then perhaps I can at least persuade the government to…"  
Kakuzawa's cell-phone rang in his pocket to interrupt him.  
"Yes, what is it?" Kakuzawa spoke.  
"_Uh, a Mr. Albert Briarecht is here from the Diet to speak to you."  
_"I'll… be right up."  
Kakuzawa gripped on his phone so hard his knuckles went white and chucked it at the wall besides Marvin. Marvin thoughtfully caught the phone mid-flight with a vector, and tossed it back to him. Kakuzawa sheepishly put the phone back in his pocket but still kept his angry look.

"Who's Briarecht?" Arakawa asked.  
"The last person I wanted in charge of this place. He's a hatchet-man in everything but name."  
"Well… what can we do?"

* * *

"Papa… huh? Eh? What's going on? Where am I?… huh? There's a note here, lemme see what it reads. '_Dear Nana, thanks for agreeing to the Bando sub-plot, can't think of a witty footnote so please ad-lib a preview of Chapter 7, lots of bad language, sex, violence and stale soccer gags our four readers won't get. Yours, Seph.' _… What an unreal dweeb. Right, what shall I say?… um…" 


	7. Appraising the situation

**DISCLAIMER: **Albert Briarecht is the only character in this chapter I own. And he's _not_ a very nice bloke.

Bando saves Lucy's life and proudly announces that he and Nana have been an item for some time, recognising that impotent hatred is hatred not worth owning. In this episode of Blu In The Face, Iori Kakuzawa may be pondering that thought as well.

* * *

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

* * *

A little later that afternoon Bando patiently drove his charges away from the scene, squeezed tightly into a rented Nissan Pulsar. Bando took care to go fairly slow as within minutes emergency crews not on the Company's books would get their noses into the mire, and to make absolutely sure they wouldn't attract too much attention he'd provided Lucy and Nana with innocuous headwear and stoner music on the CD player, running fairly loud. Even if they were pulled over odds are they wouldn't be fingered for the battle. Nana rode shotgun while Kurama was stretched out on Lucy and Kohta's laps in the back, Lucy massaging Kurama's tender back while generously applying a styptic to the minor wound. 

"Hiromi… oh, Hiromi…" he purred. Lucy stopped for a moment and looked him in the eyes, grinning.  
"Forgot it was _me_ for a second, Doctor? Thought I was an old girlfriend, perhaps?"  
"…Hiromi is my late wife. Wishful thinking, that'll get me into trouble one day. You're doing a good job, you can be tender when it suits you."  
"I've been keeping my hands real busy, our house doesn't clean itself. I get the feeling it might have to for now... There, it looks like the bleeding's stopped for a minute, I'll just dress it."  
Lucy sliced a portion of his courtesy hospital pyjamas and held it tight to the wound, then reached for the belt of his gown to wrap it around his waist from inside. Moving over towards the right-hand rear door she held him up in the air for a moment, beckoned Kohta to move over into the middle and propped Kurama firmly next to his left whilst sticking her tongue out. Kurama merely tutted at her, said thanks and stared out of the window.  
"What is it between you two?" Kohta asked Lucy. "He nearly bit your head off back in the shop."  
"… I _really_ don't wanna get into it right now." Lucy replied in all seriousness. Not wanting to dwell on the subject of the traded deaths of innocents between herself and Kurama she kissed Kohta on the forehead and cuddled up to him, attempting to drift off. Kohta looked to his left to see Kurama was also trying, then made his mind up to join Lucy in Never-Never Land.

"What's his name again?" Nana asked Bando, lowering her voice.  
"Briarecht. Bri-r-ekt. His dad was an ex-Gestapo who'd ducked Nuremberg, rubbed shoulders with Hirohito and then the Americans. He got a plum pen-pusher's job after the war and tried to raise his boy as a Japanese national to deflect any heat from the Jewish Nazi-hunters. But Junior found most of his dad's old friends, subscribed to the faith, slimed his way into a fringe Diet job and decided he wanted to get his hands dirty."  
"How'd you know it's him doing this?"  
Bando touched the side of his nose. "I've got my sources inside, honey. But the question is whether or not he'll subscribe to Kakuzawa's train of thought. More to th' point, there's also the question of which evil will give us more shit in the long run."  
"What can _we_ do?"  
"_Hide_. I need both you horn-heads to keep your guns holstered for now and we can't duck out anywhere you're familiar with, they'll spot us a mile off. Work's possible if you say absolutely nothing about this, difficult as it sounds. I'm going to get in touch with my insider. Oh, and I brought the bags you had along with you, you'll need those clothes."

He pulled his Pulsar over to the side of the road, letting a cop car – sirens blazing – pass them, and reached into his coat pocket for his cell-phone. Holding #1 down he drummed his fingers impatiently on the steering wheel. After six rings he could only get an answering service, to which he grimaced.  
"King, this is Bishop. Checked, moved out of harm's way. Advice for next move. Clock's ticking." Bando hung up and crashed backwards. Nana looked out of the passenger's side to see more service cars dashing past, then looked back at her love. The practiced leer she took as a muse for Blu was nowhere to be seen but Bando's glare stopped short of despair- a more irritated look stared through the windshield anticipating this 'King' to return his call. She let her right arm drop into her lap and extended a vector to touch his left hand. Noticing this he flipped his hand over, turning his face towards hers and smiling.

"Scared?" he asked Nana.  
"Nope. You?" she confidently replied.  
"Nope……………. Hug me!" Bando cried in falsetto, leaning his head onto her shoulder. "He'll call back!" she laughed reassuringly and he got back up. True enough, seconds later his phone sprung to life and he eagerly pressed the button to answer it.

"_Can we speak freely?_" the man on the other side asked.  
"Yeah, we're good. What's the situation, Konig?"  
"What did you say?" Kurama jumped with a start. Bando put a finger to his lips then returned to the call.  
"_Bedlam. Briarecht rode in on a pale horse 6 hours ago and he's getting his dick on the Director's shoulder at every opportunity. He's now on a grand tour of the facility judging every specimen in terms of combat ability._"  
"Combat?! This is heavier than I thought. How bad's it looking?"  
"_He doesn't know how the fight went, but it could be minutes or seconds. Are you in transit?_"  
"Transit with goods, all in pristine condition. Find me an out-shot as soon as."  
"_I'll see if I can…_" the contact's speech was cut off by a scream. "_Stay on, I'll be a second._"

Kurama groaned, his head in his hands. "I completely forgot about that man. All this time…."  
"Good job _I_ didn't.**" **Bando replied. "He may be our best shot out of this crap."  
"Who is he?" Nana asked Kurama.  
"… he's my best-kept secret." He grinned in response.  
"_Bando, you there?_"  
"Yeah, you OK?"  
"_I'm fine. Listen up- an out might have just turned up. But I'll hold onto it for a bit… Kakuzawa might wanna use it himself. Am leaving in two hours, I wanna meet. Which point- Ashton, Bramall or Carrow?_"  
"Konig, you idiot, we're on second shift. I'm heading to Ewood, see you in three hours."  
"_Bando, wait!_"  
"What?"  
"_Get the phone number of the US Embassy, Tokyo, and be ready to plot a road route. Consider highest risk. Out._"

Bando put down the cell-phone and his confident look disappeared for certain. Wiping his brow he started the ignition on the Pulsar and drove off with a little more determination as Nana looked on, worried. He produced another cigar from his tunic and lit it up, offering her a drag.  
"I'm quitting", she shook her head. "Go ahead though, you look like you need it."  
"I will. This shit's going all the way up to 11."

---

Three hours earlier, Kakuzawa sat at his desk in front of the man who would be King of his domain. Albert Briarecht sat cross-legged in front of him, the noon sun glaring off his bald head to distract Kakuzawa's practiced polite face. Briarecht stared at him through green-tinted cheap glasses, stroking his stubby goatee to keep his hand busy. Neither gentleman wished to say anything for the immediate moment, preferring to burn holes in each other's eyes awaiting Arakawa to show up with brews for the pair. Kakuzawa broke the stare first, rattled. Trying his hardest to make it look like he had important business at hand he hacked away at his keyboard into an empty page of Microsoft Word, alt-tabbing between that and an internet browser pointed at Diclonius FM's Podcast archive. Blu Sevens' sunglassed-face graced thumbnails of each show in a variety of smiles and poses. Kakuzawa enjoyed these brief snippets of sunshine but dared not return such a wistful response lest Briarecht think he'd weaken. After a few moments of the barb-wire-laced silence Arakawa arrived with coffees. 

"Where's the thirteenth?" Albert asked the blindingly obvious question.  
"We only have twelve, damn you. Technically speaking, ten. I told you on the phone."  
"Iori, _talk to me._ I want to make this as painless for you as possible. All we're after is for you to take up your pension and piss your time away on a golf course while we manage our army's next generation of weaponry. You're hiding at least one of the bastards from us, that tells us you've got high hopes for her, him, it or whatever… you said Ten?"  
"One dead… one unaccounted for." Kakuzawa folded.  
"The dead one being?"  
"Number Thirty-Five."  
"35… Funf-und-Dreizig… ah yes, Mariko Kurama if my memory serves me correctly. Raised and deployed as a walking time-bomb, ja? Destroyed a major traffic bridge at the will of her father, cost us two-hundred-fifty million to repair. We would have sued, of course, but does it look like we need the money?" he _almost_ smiled. "As of the missing Lucy, still no progress after four years?"  
Kakuzawa shook his head and beckoned Arakawa to move forward with the drinks. Briarecht took his mug, sniffed at the drink and sipped. After a few moments of glaring at the coffee he swiftly glanced up at a very nervous Arakawa, raised the mug in appreciation and returned to it. Relieved, she handed Kakuzawa his own beverage and excused herself.

"It is imperative that we recover her alive, she is the template we will be working from. Physically I've seen tougher creatures but she is extremely adaptable and resourceful. I read the test case against your….(**thinking**) Number Seven, yes? What happened to the failure?"  
"Disposed of at the time" Kurama said with absolutely no hesitation.  
"Hmmm. On an incidental note, my stock-take of your prosthetics supply indicates one missing set of arms _and _legs. The report says that Seven had her limbs torn in the encounter. Happy little coincidence, Iori?"  
Kakuzawa froze. "I'm impressed that you know so much about how I do business having known me for under twenty minutes."  
Albert sincerely smiled. "So you confess to lying about the fraulein's death?"

"_Confession implies penitence_. I left the matter of her execution up to Thirty-Five's father and he betrayed me."  
"And what of his whereabouts?"  
"Kamakura General, he's been there since the detonation. It's possible that he was severely traumatised by his daughter's death."  
Briarecht seemed surprised at the last line. Factual as it was he'd certainly read (and asked) about the genuine animosity between Kakuzawa and his most senior Chief, hence he was 70/30 sure that he was trying to distance Kurama out of convenience rather than suggest he wouldn't be useful in finding either experiment.

"Nonetheless he may be our best lead on _at least _Seven. Her disposal may not be absolutely necessary if she has changed little from her file, and if she has that score to settle with Lucy she may be persuaded to aid us. A powerful ally, indeed."  
Kakuzawa shook his head. "I have my doubts, Albert. Our immediate objective with her was termination and we've attacked her enough to make it aware that we're not her friends. If anything there's a greater chance that she'd be _siding _with Lucy."  
"All the better, then!" Briarecht lit up like a candle. "We tail Kurama, he leads us to Seven, then on to Lucy and inside a 24 hour span we're right back on track, ja?"  
"Indeed… back on track." Kakuzawa's voice trailed. Briarecht made it seem so simple it hurt his pride badly. Was there an honest reason why _he_ hadn't thought of using Kurama as bait for either Diclonius, other than his stubborn notion that Number Seven's fate was an afterthought compared to Lucy's?

Briarecht removed his shades and pierced Kakuzawa's gaze with ice-blue eyes.  
"Alright Iori, this is how we're playing it. I'll have a street team and a militia on standby by 1pm at the latest, watching the hospital like eagles. When Kurama leaves we'll keep our eyes on him. Anywhere he goes, we go. Anything he does, we do. Anyone he sees, we see. The pieces will come together, I promise you. Right now one of the _first_ things you can do for me is phone the hospital and ask if he's likely to be released soon."  
Kakuzawa picked up the telephone unit from his intercom and dialled the hospital direct:  
"Hello, My name is Dr. Iori Kakuzawa and I represent the Taurus Research Institute offshore. I'm enquiring about the health of one of our esteemed colleagues, Dr. Kensuke Kurama. He's one of our most valued… … … That's _very_ good news, thank you very much… I have his number, I will contact him. Again, thank you. Goodbye."

Briarecht stared at Kakuzawa like a large box with a bow on Christmas Day. Kakuzawa took a handkerchief from his shirt pocket and wiped his brow.  
"Kurama… was released ten minutes ago."  
"_Schwer._"

* * *

"I _cannot_ believe you used soccer stadiums."  
"I forgot the Police alphabet, OK? I was out of the loop for over two years. Anway, what's up for Chapter Eight?"  
"Lucy and Papa have a moment, You get to be stealthy for a change, and a couple of miles away the Director finally has something to cheer about."  
"Good stuff, Nana. Now, what's on the B-side?"  
"_Etude in Corduroy_… better not, you need to concentrate. How about some Maiden?"  
"_Two Minutes To Midnight?_"  
"No, it's about half-past-three in the afternoon." 


	8. Playing it Brosnan

**DISCLAIMER: **I only own Ganso, Briarecht and the agents in this chapter. Every main character is copyright of Genco.

Lucy's patient training of her vectors for something constructive appears to have paid off in nursing Kurama's back into shape; however Bando's confidence could do with some TLC at the moment… as could Lucy's.

* * *

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

* * *

**  
**

A short while later during the car ride Lucy and Kurama both failed to attain a good state of sleep while that giant lummox Kohta dropped off quite easily. The doctor noticed that she was awake as well and asked her if he could talk to her. After a moment's thought regarding Kohta's lull she nodded and he took of his seatbelt, gently undid Kohta's and prised him into the rear corner of the car, fastening him in whilst disturbing his idyllic rest very little. Satisfied with Kohta's safety he did his own belt up and turned towards his first of several important heart-to-hearts.

"So tell me, Lucy, how much have I missed? The short version, that is."

"Not that much" Lucy said lazily. "I've pretty much done nothing since the fight on the bridge, I'm just happy to be with Kohta after everything I've put him through. I don't mind getting jealous looks from his cousin, but there's still Nyu. She's been hijacking my body since I escaped and I've had to get used to listening in on other people's conversations even though I've been talking to them all the time. Everyone says Nyu's really sweet but being her is a pain in the butt though- it's like _I_ know _she's_ there and _she_ knows _I'm_ there but we can't talk to each other. Then again if we _could_ talk either we'd have nothing to say or we'd detest each other immensely."  
Kurama found himself nodding along for the sake of it.

"I can't account for her silly antics, either- she shrunk Nana's clothes in the wash after she came home early this morning and I got hit in the face for it. But I can't hold much against her because of what I've done, you know?"  
"So you still remember, Lucy."  
"I've never forgotten, Kurama. I still see faces when I dream, faces full of fear and terror that I can't silence or appease. I've found myself apologising in my own mind day and night, and at first they were still angry with me for stealing their lives from them but as I get used to seeing them, it feels like they get used to seeing me. I don't know if I'll ever truly forgive myself before I die, but the best I can hope for is to find myself something to do to help Kohta and everybody else that's been good to me. The problem is… well… "  
"You don't know what to do?" Nana spoke, looking over her shoulder.  
"Exactly."

Kurama took a deep sigh. "If you're asking me to tell you what to do… I can't. This is your cross to bear and you accept that. I have my own demons to deal with and you're not to blame for them, so I wouldn't expect you to order me how. If it helps…" he took a sigh then continued- "I'm sorry I let your friend die 7 years ago when I found you… what was her name?"  
"Aiko… damn, I'd almost gotten over her." Lucy slumped her head and began to weep silently, as Kurama gently crained his arm around her neck and put his hand on her shoulder.  
"It's Okay… really. There was nothing you could have done but back then I didn't care… too many inhuman creatures had hurt people and animals I liked and that one thing destroyed the good inside me. She knew nothing about what I'd done and she tried to stop me from getting hurt, that's all it was… I say Nyu's stupid but I really don't have the right to call her that. I'm the stupid one. The only person I saw was you so it was you I wanted to see suffer. That was why… Oh no… oh my god no… _why_ did I kill her? Was she a good friend of yours?"  
Lucy held her face in her hands, tears in full flow, remembering the day she escaped while killing Kurama's obedient coffee-lady Kisaragi.

"Who… oh, her." Kurama remembered instantly. "Yes, Lucy, she was a good friend of mine and very eager to do her best. She was never that confident in her ability but she tried her hardest. I'm going to do you a favour and ask you to do the same… Lucy? Lucy, are you OK?"  
Lucy's head bobbed forwards in slight spasm and she felt her eyelids drooping. Her hands fell onto her lap and she began to speak- "I feel hazy, I'm drift… no, not now, please not now... please stay asleep you silly girl, I need to hear this! Please don't…. don't…. … … Nyu?"  
Kohta's own head slumped in defeat as her eyes widened and her face softened. Nana turned around to the back of the car to see Kurama's pained look while Nyu's eyes buzzed around the car, hoping to fix onto something familiar. They found Kurama sitting next to her.

-

"Oh, it's you, Lucy's friend!" Nyu said excitedly as she looked at him, her eyes lighting up- "Don't worry about Lucy, she's sleeping… thanks for helping her."  
"Huh?" Kurama looked back up in surprise.  
"I heard everything."  
"_Everything?_"  
Nyu nodded, beaming, and started to speak slow and clear whilst grabbing Kurama's wrists- "Yeah… she's done a lot of very bad things and she's very sorry for them. Were you finished talking to her, I could…" she began to motion her hand towards the tattoo & scar on her head.  
"No, Nyu. Let her sleep."  
"Okay… hehe, Kohta's sleepy too. Look at him, doesn't he look silly?" she looked at Kohta. His eyes were almost stapled shut and he was snoring, absent-mindedly chewing on his ridiculous bow-tie. Kurama looked at him as well, cocked his head slightly and gradually let a smile come out.

"_He'll do more for Lucy than I ever can_." He spoke, easing back into his seat. Nyu watched the countryside fly past the window with wonder as Bando continued to drive on, staring out of the windshield to see clouds gathering ahead as if to follow a script. Seeing no traffic ahead he closed his eyes for a moment.

---

They opened earlier that morning to behold a huge bowl of soumen in front of his nose and a fistful of coins in his open palm. The coins disappeared along with his weariness as the smell wafted up his nose like it was the finest welcome in his 39-year life. With little hesitation Bando's left hand reached for chopsticks and he gobbled the lunch inside seconds, and with a gunslinger's dexterity his brand new metallic right hand reached back into his pockets to produce more coins.  
"More more more, gimme more!" he demanded with glee, and the owner complied. Used to the taste Bando took a little more time over his second portion, and he enjoyed it just as much as the first.

Behind him in the busy street a limousine drove briskly through the sparse traffic and Bando caught a glint of it in the reflection of his sunshades. Craning his head around he took a look at the license plates- completely blank. Gluttony turned to instinct as he reasoned either the limo was stolen or never meant to be recognised. Finishing the course he thanked the proprietor with a gigantic belch that could take out a hornet's nest and a curt salute, then turned to mosey on up the streets in lax pursuit of the car. In the distance he noticed the car pull up out of the front of an alleyway to the side, three men in identical suits and sunglasses with identical blonde-died buzz-cuts sporting identical sub-machine guns climbing out in no particular rush. The limousine's ignition cut off.

"Still in black, tsk tsk. Perhaps the purple-top-and-lime-green-shorts design is on the shelf for another year" Bando mused. Jocularity aside he'd been given enough time to play it cool at any rate. Looking around the place he saw that they sudden arrival of Cardboard-Cut-outs-In-Black had attracted next to no public attention- a bonus. Recognising the alley they stationed themselves he smiled to himself. Stepping out onto the road and dashing to the other side he flagged down the first car to come into his path- a 4x4 being driven by a greasy teenager in a tie-dye tee and ill-matching tangerine doo-rag.  
"Alwoigt, mate?" he put on an atrocious English accent with his Japanese. "Ere's two-hundred grand. I want you to smack that limo up the shitter and ram it four streets away. Deal?" He produced a wad of notes. The youth shot him a stupid smile, snatched the bundle from Bando's hand and floored the truck's accelerator. Bando's immediate desire was fulfilled, creating a colossal fuss from the watching shoppers and the agents that moments ago occupied the hapless car.

He walked up the street leisurely until he got to the block the alley was a part of, and branched off to the left to find a route along to the back way. On reaching the rear-most route he quietly ducked away to be certain he wasn't followed, and paced towards the centre of the alley. He saw nothing of particular interest or need to any agency- there wasn't anything illicit or threatening going on in that section of town and for all intents it appeared to be just a normal service route from the rear of a restaurant to the side streets. Producing a cigarette and lighting it for a quick fix he took a cursory look around the area. He found only three junctions in the alley- the one he'd come from, the one the guys had piled out onto and a third leading north. Taking the route he reached its end and leaned against the brick wall, puffing on his cig and looking around. The only things he could see were restaurants to the west, a shopping complex to the east and the hospital to the north… Kamakura General Hospital.

Putting two and two together Bando licked his lips. He'd paid the Doctor a visit himself behind Nana's back the previous week and he'd been in especially good spirits, eager to get out of that place and find his adoptive daughter. Figuring that Kakuzawa was still after her he dared not tell the Doctor where Nana lived, nor about their romance born from the fires of Hades. The agents' presence affirmed his suspicion. Looking to the wreckage eastward he saw the youth he'd paid off being hauled from his vehicle, shoved to the ground and having a gun wedged up his nostrils. Before they could do anything compromising the regular police arrived to take charge of the situation, and after producing valid government ID they were dismissed while the driver was arrested unharmed. They began to file back down the main street to the east, from this Bando took his cue to sconce himself in a doorway.

The team arrived in the alley and stationed themselves in no particular formation while Bando watched them. Agitated they exhaled in forced, annoyed breaths whilst one of their number reached for his radio.  
"We're in position, Mr. Briarecht."

Bando almost swallowed his cigarette upon hearing that. Pained, he grabbed the item and breathed out so hard (and silent) his eyeballs almost popped out. They'd got his attention. Stubbing it out to avoid giving himself away he overheard the team recite their plan – wait for the Doc to leave, then radio an assault team to shadow him. Bando reached inside his pants for a gun and used his eyesight to trace out a route to take the goons out and escape with no alert raised. Waiting interminably he fastened a silencer onto his piece and mouthed a prayer. It was answered immediately. As soon as one of the agents marched in his direction another in the north alley spotted Kurama leaving the hospital and radioed in to their compatriots.

Springing into action Bando arched his arm up to the nearest soldier's head and squeezed the trigger. His victim's gun fell to the floor and his friends turned to face him. In that very instant Bando despatched the second agent in the same way and pointed the gun at the third, shooting the radio out of his left hand. His right hand brought his gun to bear on Bando's throat but just as his finger cradled its trigger Bando's fourth – and decisive – shot struck the agent's right wrist. The man fell backwards to the ground, clutching the wound. Panicked, he looked at his two dead fellows staring into space above and found their reaper standing above him.

"What does that Kraut bastard have to do with the Doctor?" Bando asked him.  
"Piss on you!" came the reply.  
"Wrong answer" Bando responded, then stood on the arm. Focusing his piece on the wound he squeezed off another shot, shunting the previous bullet all the way through to break skin on the other side. The agent gritted his teeth to stifle a hellish cry.  
"Wanna re-take that?" Bando asked the obvious.  
"Mr. Briarecht usurped Director Kakuzawa back at the Institute. He wants to wrap up all this shit about Lucy and Number Seven so he wants Kurama to lead us to them. We've got a team of killers ready to tail the Doc and once they're there those creatures have got no chance. You've already lost."

"After you." Bando replied, expressing his satisfaction with a final shot to the agent's cranium. Rushing back through the north exit he jettisoned his pistol into a trash-can after wiping his prints off. Slowing to an even stroll he looked around for Kurama, spotting dozens of identical taxis in both northern and southern directions. Putting his palm to his face he figured there was little he could do except inform Nana that her Papa had left. Producing his cell-phone he held down #2 and shut his eyes to calm himself down.

They opened six hours later behind the wheel of his trusty Pulsar.

---

"I'll take your glamourous assistant with me on this little tour, Iori. I suggest you find me that hidden chamber or write your resignation note in the next hour so that we can take your pension and put it to better use elsewhere. That'll be all for now." Briarecht spoke confidently to a defeated Kakuzawa. The deposed Director pressed Arakawa's button on his intercom unit and she hurried into the office, adjusting her hair.  
"I'm going to take a little walk" he replied. Shutting down his computer he got up from the desk that was once his and shuffled his feet towards her. She caught his worried look so she gave him a brief smile.  
"I'll see you later" he said loud enough to be heard, then stepped past her awaiting ear. "_Whatever he says, don't dignify that little shit with a response_" he whispered, then left the room. Walking around his crumbling empire he spotted Ganso outside Dr. Kurama's old office.

"What're you doing here?" Kakuzawa asked the cleaner.  
"You said I could set up my supplies in this office when I started 4 years ago."  
"… …. That's right, I said that. No worry. Hey, uh, do you have a current detector?"  
"A what?"  
"Something that probes for electric currents? I'm bored out of my skull waiting to get fired, so I want to snoop around for this other room."  
"Sure thing, sir… here you go" he tossed Kakuzawa the item. The director thanked him and for no particular reason swiped his card to open the door to the office, entering to start his blithe search inside. Ganso picked up his mop and bucket and briskly paced away from the door. Inside, Kakuzawa lazily probed the walls with the device, finding currents behind boxings exactly where they would normally be.

"Did you have anything to do with this, Kensuke you shit?" he asked himself. "If you had, odds are it would be under my nose laughing at me." In a short amount of time he'd covered the entire room finding nothing of particular interest asides Ganso's cleaning solutions and Kurama's old clutter. Spotting three photo-frames containing shots of Number Seven, Kurama with his wife and his adjutant Kisaragi respectively, he sighed for no reason and turned his head towards a book-case on the adjacent wall. He half-seriously peered behind the case to find more sweet memories Kurama chose to hide behind his back, hoping to find something he could press on his subordinate should he ever be arsed to seek him out.

He found nothing on the floor behind the case, but above he found something that looked like… a keypad.

* * *

"Bando, how far is it to go?"  
"About another ten minutes, boy. Go back to sleep"  
"(**grumble**)….zzzz… Lucy… Director… zzzz… Nine… Secrets… Lies… Shortbread… Sponge Cake… mmmmmm……" 


	9. Identities within

**DISCLAIMER: **Briarecht, Ganso and one Diclonius are my property, that's all.

It is Iori's imagination, or has he finally found something worth looking for?

* * *

**CHAPTER NINE**

* * *

Inside seconds the bookshelf laid shattered yards in front of the secret door, regardless of valuables or sentiments. Kakuzawa stood transfixed at the plastic box in the wall in front of him, bells and electronic jingles ringing in his ears with aplomb. All that laid between him and his imminent salvation (or the excuse to tell that German git to go screw himself) was one tiny number lock. He looked at the pad and deduced that Kurama hadn't gone to the trouble of fitting his own custom piece, instead having a stock door and pad secured- this led Iori to believe that the maximum amount of numbers in the chain was seven, and that a 'mere' 4.7 million+ combinations stood between him and the ointment inside. Inside minutes this would be impossible, inside hours it would be a certainty as he'd just call up his electronics branch in town, get a black-market keypad hacker (ha!) and he'd be in. Behind Briarecht's back. Whilst ice-skating on a piece of glass thinner than a watch-face and fellating a hippopotamus. 

Frankly he'd be better off typing in any old shit that came to his mind, and he knew it. Mainly because if the lock and door was _completely _stock it would also be wired into the standardised alarm mechanism, meaning that if any pleb decided to hack into Kurama's door not only would _he_ know about it alarms would trigger in the main security section (and Kurama would have to explain where the extra lock came from). And if only Kurama would know about it, it wasn't as if he was in any position to _do_ anything about it, was he?

To be absolutely sure he couldn't count on any outside help Kakuzawa quickly rifled through Kurama's personal effects on the improbable shot he'd find the exact combination written on a chit the size of a match-head or something akin. The search proved fruitless, so the ex-Director took to the pad typing in any old shit that came to his mind. Naturally the pad gave no indication that any particular number was a match, and after firing blind for a good 5 minutes Kakuzawa shrugged his shoulders and left the room in a proper state, heading for the kitchens.

He entered the smallest room reserved for drink-makings and reached to fill up a kettle, agitated. That one tiny thing scratched at his mind with no relief in sight and his fingers strained, grasping the appliance hard and slamming it on its base as he flicked its switch. Waiting for an imminent – yet small – relief he glanced next to the wash basin- that day's newspaper stood before him, folded neatly in half with "M. Arakawa, Taurus Institute" written in faded biro. Kakuzawa nonchalantly flicked through the pages to find anything even slightly relevant to business, and found (to him) a curious article six pages in- a half-page ditty on an American senator's daughter going missing in Japan recently.  
Angela Hayes had been holidaying in the bay area for a fortnight just before hopefully finding herself a safe, low-key job and had failed to make contact with her parents just before she was due to come back. Kakuzawa looked at the photograph provided, one supposedly from a birthday party of hers- not exactly flattering yet providing the closest likeness possible; she was wearing a paper hat and her long crimson hair drooped over her right eye, tumblers of rum and whiskey in either hand. As the kettle reached its climax Kakuzawa shook his head, replaced the paper at the wash-basin with the article facing upward and set to preparing himself his hundredth coffee of the morning, it seemed. On the way out of the kitchen he passed Ganso, and an awkward silence set in as Iori knew damn well he wasn't supposed to be on break for another twenty minutes.

"It's boiled, go ahead" Kakuzawa spoke with a thin smile. Ganso nodded curtly and entered the kitchen, and Iori started to walk back down the hall sipping on the mug. Picturing the caffeine taking a direct route to his fried brain he started to ask himself a few questions of Kurama's motives for hiding a Diclonius for himself – especially with his attitude – and stood still for a moment to dwell on these thoughts. Suddenly he heard something shatter on the floor in the kitchenette behind and he reacted with a slight gasp. Deducing it was nothing out of the ordinary he then leaned on a wall to ask himself a dozen questions of Kurama's code. Most of these made no sense as he figured that Kensuke was certainly _not _a number-geek or a wordsmith to his reckoning, and more than two Christmases had been spent removing the acronym TGIF from Kakuzawa's spare loafers. Any which way Kurama could get back at his boss without him knowing for sure he'd take, and strangely Iori preferred _that_ approach than calling in at 9am and telling him "Hello, I'm taking over your company."

For no fathomable excuse Kakuzawa returned to the kitchenette to see Ganso clearing up the remnants of the mug he'd just dropped, the newspaper next to the mess upside-down from how he'd left it.  
"Ganso, may I ask you a question?"  
"Sure, boss" the cleaner replied.  
"How much do you know of Dr. Kurama?"  
"Only that you hired me not long after he nearly died, sir."  
"Yes, he actually chose your resume from the applications pile just before the incident. Hmm… Say for instance he had a secret, Ganso…"  
"Yes… sir?"  
"It's glaringly obvious that secrets are meant to be kept from people because it could hurt them, right?"  
"Yes."  
"Well… – how can I put this? – if he knew that some day such a secret would inevitably be unearthed, who would he _want _to find it out?"  
Ganso didn't move, merely shifting his eyes for a moment before replying – "Someone he trusted with his life above everything else, I guess…"  
"Hmm… thanks, anyway. Um… have an extra hour for lunch, OK? It's on the house."  
"Thank you very much, sir."

Kakuzawa left the kitchenette lost in thought. Without a moment's hesitation Ganso picked the newspaper up, tore a large portion of the facing page off and pocketed it in his overalls before collecting the mug's remains and dumping them in the bin. He reached for his cellphone and turned it on whilst retrieving another mug for a fresh brew, spooning four heaps of full-caff coffee inside. His hands shook a little out of worry retrieving a pot of sugar from the overhead cupboard so he took a short breath to steady himself.

"_You have one new voicemail!"_

The contents of the pot fell into the mug, filling it to the top. Regardless, Ganso poured the water into the mug whilst stiring and dialling.

---

"Pick it up, idiot… God's sake Mayu, you're not in the bar _again_ are you?"

Nana was cursing blind into her cellphone as the Pulsar parked up inside a garage next to the hovel Bando and his compatriot dubbed Point Ewood, part of an abandoned hotel block west of Kamakura. Piling out of the car Kohta and an uneasy Nyu helped carry Kurama through a door Bando swiftly unlocked, and set him onto a dilapidated sofa inside their room's ostensible dining quarters. Nyu then collapsed onto her butt on the floor, clutching the wounded ankle Lucy blanked out of her mind and crying slightly.  
Kurama sat up intending to sacrifice his spot for her sake but collapsed back onto the couch, arching his back in pain. Bando looked back at him and saw a patch of blood on the back of the couch, then dashed out of the room. Nana entered, looking flustered, and observed the chaos brewing whilst still trying to reach Mayu on her phone. She exhaled pointedly then set to work on Nyu's ankle, holding it steady and looking at the glancing wound. Assuring herself it wasn't too bad she sacrificed part of her blue tee to wrap around the ankle and tie so tight most of the area around the wound whitened.

She beckoned her Papa to remove his gown and pyjama top completely for a more thorough examination of his back wound. As Bando suspected it had been re-opened with a sudden movement, torn open slightly worse. Bando returned with a surplus of bandages and a sewing kit ready to apply his superior sense of field surgery on the wound while Nana checked that Nyu was okay. Suddenly a voice called out on her cellphone, demanding her attention-  
"_Nana! It's almost 4:15, that's bad even by __**your**__ standards…_"  
"I'd love to bitch about the time, Mayu, but this is important. Are you listening clear?"  
"_Yeah._"  
"Are you sober?"  
"… _as good as_."  
"Listen the hell up, Mayu – DO NOT COME HOME. I repeat, DO NOT COME HOME. That freaking Institute sent soldiers to hit the house up."  
"_WHAT?_"  
"Papa got out of hospital today, but he was tailed and we got into a fight. The gateway got shafted completely."  
"_Papa… what? Eh?... Jesus A. Hetfield! Is everyone okay?_"  
"Bando-chan got us out of there before anyone got badly hurt. He's got us stashed somewhere out of the way."  
"_Well… what the heck do you expect me to do? The bus is here in ten minutes and I'm only on my second Bacardi!"_  
"Dammit… I'll call you back, don't take another sip! (**hanging up**) Bando! What about Mayu? We can't bring her here on public transport!"  
"I'm a little busy, sugar."  
"Knock the platitudes off, we're in a bit of a crisis here!"  
"**I KNOW!!!**... right. Boy, can you drive?"

Kohta looked up at Bando with a fair amount of uncertainty in his face. "I'm still learning but I'm fairly confident."  
"Okay… take the main road back into the town and ask Nana directions back to the FM Studios, wait inside, drink as much coffee as it'll take to keep you two alert but _please _don't go on the air as we're working minute-by-minute just to survive while I come up with a plan. Can you trust me with Idiot here?"  
"Her name's Nyu!" Kurama chimed in.  
"I was _talking_ to Nyu!" Bando smiled. Kohta and Nana laughed while the gag slowly dawned on the Doctor who shrugged his shoulders slightly.  
"I'll be okay here, Kohta! My leg's a bit sore but Big Guy can look after us!" Nyu confidently exclaimed. Grinning, Bando tossed his keys to Kohta who grabbed Nana's hand and walked out of the door.

"Nana… come back in one piece." Bando said without ego.  
"Yeah, Bando…I can guess which piece you'd like the most, no?" - Kurama looked up at Bando, paternal embarrassment imminent.  
"Whichever hand irons the creases better."  
"_YOU UTTER DOUCHE!!!_" Nana yelled on the way out, dialling her phone. Kurama howled with laughter whilst Bando shot a lusty leer at the back of her head, returning to sewing the Doctor's back up while Nyu lightly patted her damaged ankle, staring into the passageway.

---

Brairecht approached door #18 with no particular apprehension, towering in front of Arakawa and waiting for her to slide her card through the door lock. He peered through the glass panel for a moment, then – as if to do a silent double-take – removed his shades to look at the specimen.  
"Is she English?" he asked Arakawa, intrigued.  
"American, apparently. I'm not familiar with her accent. A few hours ago I was doing a stock-take of sorts and she attempted an escape, screaming something I couldn't understand. She was restrained, re-chained and she's sleeping off the sedative right now."  
"What's her score?"  
"One second, sir…" Arakawa looked through her notes for a few moments, then announced the vitals – "Ten with four metres, we haven't done a weight test yet. She looks to be around eight S-class years old…"  
"How do you know she's not a P-class?"  
"To be honest we haven't had chance to do scans yet, we only snared her three days ago."  
Briarecht produced a handkerchief to clean his glasses off, then put them on again, not taking his eyes off the subject. "Is it safe to enter?" he asked her, inwardly indifferent to the answer.

Kakuzawa, mug in hand, paced in their general direction whilst observing Arakawa let his enemy in the front door. "Damnit, what was her name? He gave her a name, what was it?" he muttered impatiently, reaching the open entrance. Arakawa followed Briarecht into the control room to take a closer look at Number Eighteen, with Kakuzawa leaning on the door frame. He stood over the console, gazing into the experiment's sleepy expression while listening to the uniform beeps of a heart monitor. Arakawa backed away, bored. Iori touched his hand on her shoulder and she looked back at him, silently breathing in a way which conveyed 'help me' to her boss.  
"Never has death looked a more beautiful prospect, nein? I can't see her face, her hair's in the way! Go brush it clear, I want to see the pure face of evil!" Briarecht barked at her.

Arakawa entered the main chamber and approached the chained Diclonius, complying with his instruction. She grabbed the 'offending' hair and slung it over her shoulder, staring mesmerised into her shut eyes. Dried trails of tears ran the length of her face and had dripped onto the top of her chest, on which laid the residue of vomit- she reasoned this was caused by a bad reaction to some over-zealous use of the cattle-prod earlier. Kakuzawa looked at Arakawa and could see that _her _eyes were close to streaming as well, and he looked back up to the experiment's dozing face.

The visage hit his brain like a bullet.

His mouth dropped wide open for a moment, yet his hand forcibly shut it just before Briarecht turned around to look at him.  
"You could almost mistake her for a blood-haired _engel, _Iori. I must say my opinion of these freaks has changed not a little, many of the ones I've seen _so far_ would do well in combat, and we haven't even got to the high-risk section yet. Not sure about this girl here, though, she looks more like she'd do more damage in a china shop."  
"… I dunno, Albert. The Female of the Species, you know… well, I'm quite sure you've got this in hand, may I be excused?"  
"Certainly, Iori. Found me your deepest, darkest secret yet?"  
"I'm telling you, I don't know if it!"  
"If you value your pension you'd better find it before…"  
His rebuke was interrupted by a sharp increase in beeps from the console. He looked at the numbers of the relevant monitor.- 32, 45, 59, 72, 86…

He looked at Kakuzawa, then at Arakawa. She looked at him, and back at Eighteen.

Eighteen opened her eyes.

* * *

"Alright, Nana, I'll see you at the studio in an hour's time… 's alright, I can walk perfectly well, _you're _the lightweight… well, a little bird told me the night you got that job after two shots of Golden Horse you were riding him like Frankie Dett… sorry, I didn't mean that…. (**hanging up**) Yeesh, it's not as if anybody _heard _me say… … … bang goes the Fourth. An inter-genus and international incident may be on the cards, while the old man burns to be the one who seeks so he may find. But will he wait his whole lifetime? I dunno. Hell, by the time Ten comes out I may have a steed of my own, one way or another." 


	10. Kamakuran Standoff

**DISCLAIMER: **The characters that don't exist in the Elfen Lied anime belong to me, as per usual.

After being rudely denied her freedom under whichever convention is en vogue at the moment, Number Eighteen is awoken by a concerned face, possibly presenting the opportunity to try again...

* * *

**CHAPTER TEN**

* * *

Angela Hayes awoke from her enforced slumber to see the world as a melted ice-cream, unable to form solid shapes. Accompanying the bizarre vista was a cacophony of human voices- one fairly close to her speaking in a concerned manner with an alien tongue, and other more urgent voices crying out from further away. Also dancing around Angela's skull was a reminder of her last escape attempt that ended in sickness and humiliation alongside the tiniest face of shock in the background, a glimpse snatched just before all faded.  
The nearest voice repeated its utterance and the picture started to clear itself up somewhat. Angela craned her head upward to focus on the siren in front and blinked several times on that point. She began to take deep breaths as if to help expedite the lifting fog. One final deep cough and all was revealed- she was right back where she started, chained up against the wall; but the face of fear from earlier was right in front of her staring into her eyes with genuine, almost tearful empathy. 

Angela looked past this warm sight for a second. The voices in the back had ceased and one of them, the man with no hair, appeared to be loading a gun.  
"_Sorry_" she whispered, then grabbed Arakawa with four vectors with bullet-ferocity. Taking care not to wound her she turned her captive around to face the threat in the control room opposite, then thrust her forward – screaming – to around a few feet from the glass.

"ARAKAWA!!! DO NOTHING!" Kakuzawa shrieked from the other side. "What's her range, Albert?"  
"Four metres."  
"She's only four-and-a-half from the door, she could have rammed her straight into the glass but she stopped of her own will."  
"Why? She could have torn her in half, freed herself and killed us both before I got a shot off!"  
"… she's desperate, Albert. All she wants to do is escape. I think we should let…"  
"Stop that sentence before I shoot you, Iori. No creature is getting out of this facility on my watch!"

The two continued their bickering for a few moments while Arakawa breathed heavily, not daring to move a muscle lest Number Eighteen tear it immediately afterwards. Collecting her thoughts for a moment the Diclonius eased her prey closer backwards before taking a spare vector to cleave her newest shackles just as easily as she did the last set. She forced Arakawa onto her knees with a firm shove and held her there with two arms aimed straight at her throat. Looking at the pair of men argue onward she dragged Arakawa with her real arms back towards the rear of the wall, then deliberately sat behind, legs akimbo and ducked behind, with Arakawa sat in the middle. She began to whisper, in English, into Arakawa's ear-  
"_Ssh ssh shh, don't say a word. All I wanna do is leave._"  
"I don't understand you, please don't hurt me" was all Arakawa could reply.  
"_Ssssshhhhhhh, don't be afraid, I'll let you go when they let me go._"  
"Please don't hurt me! Please don't hurt me, I'm sorry!" – Arakawa was in tears.  
"_LET HER GO, ANGIE_!" an unfamiliar voice cried out from the entrance.

---

"Are you alright, Nana?" Kohta asked.  
"I could kill a cigarette right now" Nana replied ruefully. "It would've been better if you said 'No, I can't'."

Kohta looked behind through the rear windshield to see two distinctive black marks snaking back out of the Studio gates and left back up the hill they just bombed down, half-expecting to see a geriatric head-over-tail in the bushes opposite the gate, a school of splattered hedgehogs or a police cruiser with cackling officers. In his mind Kohta had got off lucky with his flaming great whopper of a lie; in Nana's she was eternally thankful she had her own parking space in spite of the fact she neither drove nor was particularly inclined to learn how.  
"Alright Kohta, here's the deal. If I've still got my job my ID should work, we wait in reception, Mayu staggers in, we leave, that's it. Nothing else unless Bando tells us different."

The pair exited the car, catching whiffs of melting rubber and petrol in their wake. Sidling up to the front gate Nana composed herself and produced her identity card from her coat, handing it over to a bored-looking security guard. Before he could buzz her through he heard footsteps rushing from the building inside. With no particular urgency on his own part he held his free hand up to stop her from proceeding while the dervish burst through the doors and approached.  
"Blu! Thank Christ you're here, massive fave needed." Her studio director yelled out. Pained, Nana collected herself and allowed him to catch his breath.

"Umm…. What's up, Hiro-chan?"  
"Horace's wife's waters have broke and he left about 2 o'clock, traffic's shafted because of the police, gunfire was heard a few hours… wait a second, don't _you_ live in the hillside? Did you know anything about it?"  
"Well, no, um, heh, I mean… wow, I didn't realise she was due about now. Eh, listen Hiro, now's not really a good time, I'm just here to meet a friend…"  
"It's not for right now, Blu, it's for 7:30. Harvey was supposed to be live from San Francisco but he's caught something from the locals, probably Mary-Jane related, and Horace was supposed to be doing Harvey's set. I REALLY need you to play his set otherwise it's re-runs from the _shit-hop_ hour and what's the freaking point if we have to cut most of it out?"  
"I _really _appreciate the dilemma, but this can't…"  
"Double, Blu, double – no – treble pay just for now. And if you like it, you can take 7:30 for a month."

-

"Oh… balls." Bando summed it up on the phone minutes later, pained. "Not one word, I beg your immortal soul, not one word about today."  
"What's going on?" Kurama asked, still laid chest-down on the sofa. His back was neatly sewn up and clean.  
"They want her to work 7:30 through 9:30, they strong-armed her with three-times a day's pay. Nothing funny, just some other loser's setlist."  
"What can we do to plan around it? I don't think she'll say no even if I disowned her."  
"Precisely… (**deep breath**) jack, apart from listen in I guess… one second. Nana, are you still there?"  
"_Yeah_."  
"How's the boy's driving?"  
"_I wish you hadn't asked. The car's just about in one piece._"  
"Get him to wait outside for your friend and pray she shows up before 7:30. If she doesn't he's going to have to drive her back here."  
"_Wait up Bando… … … yes! That's her outside right now. I'll get her and Kohta to sit in reception._"  
"Remember, honey, just play the music and bail. No callers. I'll be listening if I can get a radio in this dump. Stay silent, stay safe. Love ya."

Nana heard Bando hang up on her with an unusual – but justified – measure of fear in his voice. She knew for certain the shootout had attracted municipal attention but unless there had been survivors able to give accounts of the fight surely they had no idea of the parties involved? For all his machismo and theatrics she was sure he came to the rescue that morning as silently as possible even in a car that was built for speed in the same way Mayu was built for sobriety. She walked back out towards the gate to find her step-sister leaning against the guard hut.  
"Mayu, are you alright?"  
Mayu cupped her hand to her ear and slurred "_Haben sie das gehört? es gibt einen frosch in meiner gelben unterhose…_" as Nana put her palm to her face, ready to burst into tears it seemed.  
"Only joking!" Mayu perked up as if on command. "The look on your face just then…"  
Steam appeared to come from Nana's eyeballs in her glare- "Mayu, we could be dead before the day is out, so _please_ let's just stop _assing_ about and get the _hell_ inside, **OK**?"

---

"_Who are you, and how do you know my name_?" Angela asked Marvin, sill gripping her hostage in front of her. Marvin began to speak to her in clean English-  
"_My telepathy is more advanced than most of our kind. I can identify every Diclonius inside a mile and read their thoughts. I haven't tried speaking to you yet, I'm not sure you'll hear me. Please let my friend go._"  
"_All I want to do is go home, I don't want to hurt this girl if I don't have to._"  
_"That's all I want to do as well but they don't trust us to exist with the rest of them, and all you're doing is giving them more reason. Miss Arakawa's got nothing to do with this._"  
"_Why do they want me at all? I knew I had this special power but I haven't hurt anybody with it, I swear._"

Marvin was in a bind- should he tell her the terrible truth Kakuzawa confided to him, or...  
"_They just... want to see what you can do to help other people like us, to be normal._"  
"_LIAR!_"  
Infuriated, Angela shot four vectors straight at Marvin. He didn't flinch at all, staring his possible death straight in the face.  
Four ghostly _clanks _filled the air, and Angela looked on in shock. Out of desperation she flung another six in his direction, and all six were parried just as easily. Marvin bowed his head and shook it, whimpering.  
"_WHY?!?_" she screeched in defeat, before inexplicably having her arms prised apart, allowing Arakawa to dash to safety. Angela was then held up by her ams and her legs were forcefully prised apart, leaving her staring back at him with impotent rage- she had all ten arms in play and he not only cancelled them out but had apprehended her with little effort. The thought "_What the hell is he?" _ran through her brain as she strained under his firm grip. He looked back up at her, tears in his eyes.

"_That's why you can't leave_." Marvin spoke, matter-of-fact. "_Don't take it badly, it's just our instinct._"  
Angela bawled out, completely powerless. Relieved, Briarecht stepped into the control room and looked Marvin in his eyes with a relieved smile.  
"_Verwunderbar_! My boy... that was just fantastic. What's your number?"  
"My number... Twenty-two, sir."  
"Sterling work, that could have been a very messy situation... ... ... kill her."  
"... beg your pardon, sir?"  
"We cannot release her into society, not like this. Kill her immediately."

-

Hanging up his phone Ganso ran down the hallway in fear, passing Kakuzawa dashing in the opposite direction. Having read the paper he knew exactly what the ramifications could be if the United States found out one of its more-important citizens was being held and experimented on; plus he had to honour his promise to his best friend to observe what was going on in the facility and only intervene in the direst circumstances- even though these didn't immediately pertain to Nana, they could at a later date.  
Ganso stopped just short of Room 18 to catch his breath and straighten himself up, preparing to make a plan up on the fly. He motioned towards the room but stopped- Briarecht stepped outside, angrily cussing to himself. Arakawa followed with Marvin hand-in-hand and the three of them stopped. Marvin's eyes widened and he turned to look at Ganso in amusement as Briarecht continued to lambaste Arakawa for getting herself into the situation that almost resulted in the deaths of two people and two experiments. Ganso looked back at Marvin for a second, then at Arakawa as she pleaded with Albert not to take action.

Albert took an extremely deep breath before deciding his course- "Very well, you idiot. Take Twenty-Two back to his room, and permanently double his food ration; then find out where that coward Kakuzawa's run off to. As for Eighteen... I'll have to discuss her with the ministry..." he caught Marvin looking at the cleaner, then addressed Ganso.  
"What are _you_ doing here?"  
Ganso was stuck for an answer for a moment, then composed himself- "I've run out of bleach for my mop. Can I order some?"  
Briarect shook his head, unable to utter anything in his fury. He merely flapped his hand in indifference then stormed off away from the scene. Ganso wiped his brow and looked back at the smart Diclonius in front of him. Marvin shot him a knowing wink and was led away by Arakawa.  
"Why were you staring at the janitor, Marvin?"  
"He works out too much, I think he's on steroids" Marvin joked back. "Miss... what did Mr. Kakuzawa ask you?"  
"He asked me about a little girl called Nana who used to live here in Room Seven."

Ganso walked into Room 18 whilst the door remained open, and found Angela slumped on the floor at the rear of the wall, blood in front of her. He cautiously approached the prisoner, looking over her... and found the situation was not as it seemed.

-

"Something about her... something about Nana" Kakuzawa said out loud, reaching Kurama's office once more. Clambering over the mess he caused with more determination than ever he took a quick look at the menacing keypad and produced his cellphone from his pocket, dialling a government number with impatience. As the phone dialled he rifled through Kurama's framed photographs once more looking for any clues, thunderously placing each one down in turn. Finally he got an answer.  
"_Hello_?"  
"This is Director Iori Kakuzawa of the Taurus Institute, Kamakura. I would like to register a strong complaint with whoever's in charge of the Army..."  
Kakuzawa stopped mid-track and stared at his phone's keypad. "_It can't be, it's so stupid._" his brain laughed at him, and a smile cracked through his face.  
"... never mind, I'll call you back." he hung up and looked back at the alphanumeric pad, his smile transforming into a broad grin. Marching back over to the hidden door he took a moment to register what could be his salvation, paid Kurama a mental salute and entered the digits 6-2-6-2 with authority.  
As if to the climax of the 1812 overture Kakuzawa pumped his fist to the air as the door slid open and out of the way.

"YESSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
Kakuzawa entered the secret chamber.  
"NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The empty water tank in front of him bared its arse at him mockingly, dried fluid and broken glass strewn on the floor in places.

* * *

"Whooooooah, double rump steak! _back-of-the-net_!"  
"That's because you've been a good boy, Marvin. That could have been a lot worse, you were so cool about it."  
"One thing still bugs me about it, Miss... he's not going to let me go either, is he?"  
"I'll work something out, Marvin, I promise. Now be a star and do the preview for chapter 11."  
"_Alrighty then_... the next chapter will likely have a musical pun for a title, questions will be asked and answered whilst Nana tries very hard to remain calm during the ensuing tsunami of supercilious insig...pffft... I knew I'd feck that up, I spent all day rehearsing it."  
"Never mind. Now eat your dinner." 


	11. News Of A Small World

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Elfen Lied, but if I did I'd sell the rights to anyone who managed to get camcorder footage of the conga line during HIM's stand at the Metallica gig on Sunday.

The ability to keep your emotions in check during trying times is a commodity with considerable value, and either you're born with it in abundance or you have to work damn hard for it. Marvin's proven that he can be an iceman, but what about Nana?

* * *

**CHAPTER ELEVEN**

* * *

"_And who are you supposed to be? Another 'human' come to mock me? I'd rather have been butchered by that little snot just now._"  
That was the only greeting Angela saw fit to give Ganso as he stared over her defeated naked body, concentrating for a few moments on the small pool of blood gathered in front of her groin. Ganso then smiled and began to speak heavily-accented English to her.  
"_Your telepathy sucks. Can't you even tell what I am? See me with your mind, woman, you should not have to force your brain to do this._"  
She shook her head but then obeyed his command. A horrifying clarity came over her face.  
"_You're… impossible, where are your horns?"_  
Ganso bowed his head to her. "_Never mind that for a second. You wonder why you still live, no? Look to your flower._"  
"_My fl…I was… saved by my __**period**_?**" **Angela asked with disgust. 

"_You are of pure Diclonius breeding, my girl. If you were like every other specimen here you'd have been killed on Briarecht's command. Because you are able to spread our genes __**and**__ give birth as a normal human you're sacred property, not just to our race but to those who want to use you for their own power._"  
"_The bald man?_" Angela asked.  
"_Both him and Kakuzawa. Greed drives them both for their own ends, but I think apart from me only Kakuzawa knows who you are… Miss Hayes. Angela Hayes, daughter of Democrat senator Richard Hayes who narrowly lost the presidential race last year. That is you, yes?_"  
"_Yes… how did you know?"_

Ganso produced the newspaper article from inside his overalls. "_This morning's news" _he stated. She read the article and cried afresh, gripping it to her chest and closing her eyes praying she'd see her dad again.  
He patted her on the head with his real right hand, and spoke confidently to her- "_I'll get you out of here, don't worry. I can't guarantee it will be today but it will be very soon. They don't know exactly who I am yet, they still believe I'm the dumb cleaner. Just do nothing to alarm them for now, this will be very hard but I'm counting on you."_  
"_But… I don't even know your name." _Angela spoke with trepidation. Ganso smiled again and produced his cellphone.

"_My name is Douglas Konig. Half-English, Half-Japanese, Five quarters innumerate."_

-

The escape of possibly the biggest threat of a human massacre dawned on Iori Kakuzawa's face alongside a tidal wave of acrid sweat from his brow as he beheld the shattered chamber standing in front of him. From what he could tell with his panicked eyes the water and glass that strew the floor of the room appeared to be far less than expected of a violent escape, so either Kurama engineered it and began to clear the debris before escaping to his fate on the bridge or the captive Diclonius had broke out and cleaned the mess itself, conscious of making frequent returns to the room. The latter possibility seemed more tantalising to Kakuzawa's boyish fantasies but whoever would be so idiotic to return to the scene of the crime so brazenly?

Iori looked inside the broken cubicle and found a neatly-inked note in both English and Japanese at the bottom. He immediately fingered it to be Kurama's handwriting and orated to himself in a mocking tone.  
"_Douglas, my prize. I've kept you in here for this long and taught you to be everything I'm not – brave, noble and just. I write this to you as I don't_" – Kakuzawa dropped the accent – "_expect I will return for a long time, if at all. I'm leaving this cruel place for a good reason- I let a little girl loose to find her own way and I need to be sure she won't return even if she's compelled to. I need you to keep a watchful eye over this place and somehow reach out to Nana to shove her as far from Kakuzawa's hands as you can, and if someone even more evil than Kakuzawa should come to manage this place (I doubt this somehow) I want you to make sure he fails as well. You are bold and daring, Douglas, but she has innocence unbecoming of a Diclonius and that needs to remain if any hope of change keeps. She needs the chance to love and they won't let her if it means they make money… or worse. I also have another strange request of you, regarding the tyrant known as Lucy…"_

Kakuzawa stopped reading for now, folded the note and placed it into his pocket. The mystery sample was definitely not your classical psychotic Diclonius, and Kurama's tell-all scripture whet his appetite to find out exactly who it was. Stepping over the glass he scanned his eyes over the room. Aside from the tank and its life-support systems the room was neat and sparse, aside some mess the creature made over in a corner opposite to the entrance of the room. He approached the corner and found a large knife with the edges of the blade bent and a curious hand-held device that looked like a sander. Pulling its trigger to affirm its purpose Kakuzawa looked confused - momentarily - then observed the dust around the corner, picking up a larger piece.  
"Bone", he said to himself. "It's coming together."

He continued to nose around the room for a few more minutes, finding a large diary-type book and leafing through the pages. Aside a few doodles in kanji the contents were almost all in English, too neat to be Kurama's doing, and – curiously enough – dating to _well _before Kurama's defiant flight, just around… the time his wife gave birth.  
"You did well to keep this card up your sleeve for so long, Kensuke" Iori mused to himself, and pocketed the book along with the note. He then found a crack in one of the walls and pursued it with the edge of his fingers. Lifting the panel up slightly he removed it, revealing a large aquarium tank containing a shoal of rainbow trout in healthy condition and a large supply of food to go with them, pointing out two things- the creature kept with the basic Diclonius affinity with animal life besides humans, and – more importantly – the creature was _still in the facility _to feed them.  
Nothing else presented itself in the room so Kakuzawa elected to leave the grotto for now, sated with his trove. As a punctuation mark to his new-found levity he replaced the picture frames back on the stand and looked on them each in turn. Aside Kurama himself he saw three people who found it easy to speak not of the thirteenth danger because they never knew of it- his wife, his adjutant and his adoptive daughter Nana. Kakuzawa made himself forget about Number Seven for a brief second and cocked his head at the charming girl and her smile.

Iori's jaw lazed open. He'd seen the smile before, earlier that day.

---

The most blissful sleep possible in life blessed Nyu on the floors of the abandoned hotel room, a youthful smile etched on her lips moving millimetres in time with silent intakes of air through her nose as Dr. Bando (unaccredited) continued to sew up Dr. Kurama's laceration. No anaesthetic was available so the real doctor had to grin and bear it while a concerned Bando tried to take his mind off it with an even bigger worry.

"She _passed out _this morning? On-air?"  
"Kohta told me on the way here. She finished early and slept most of the day until we arrived back at her home." Kurama pointed out.  
"This sounds bad… She'd normally come round my place and we'd… well" Bando stopped, blushing furiously.  
"You don't have to be shy with me, we're both adults aren't we?" Kurama graciously spared him. "And so's Nana, technically speaking- it's her business."  
"Anyway, she'd come to mine, have a nice meal and we'd do it for a few hours, it helped beat her temper out of her and get her into the zone for broadcast. But for the last couple of weeks she'd come through the door every night and crash out on my bed until it was time to work. I never complained but it was obvious she's totally fried, man. She told me once everything that we knew had changed, and she was right- It's like… once she got with me she found a side of her she enjoyed immensely, a part of her with real vitality, and she wanted to run it all the way down to the bone. The trouble is I can see the bone now and I'm worried."

Bando broke off the thread, finishing the job and patting him on the shoulder. Kurama turned back onto his side and looked him in the eyes, seeing the all-too-human concern once alien to Bando.  
"She's not… well… _taking_ anything, is she?" he had to ask.  
"Asides nicotine, nothing in _my_ sight. When she gets home in the mornings I've no idea."  
"Does she tell you much about the job? How it's going?"  
"She _used _to quite a lot but nowadays it's all just a tempest it seems she revels in. She's got two speeds- top and stop."

Kurama took a moment to judge the situation. "Purely from a psychological standpoint – and I'm not a quack, just a biologist – she's a monster on a hunt, enjoying her spree with plenty of friends to accompany her but no dissenting point of view nor any relief from the carnage aside sleep. Now would have been the perfect time to take some time away from the world she's carved herself with pride but she's found a bigger beast hungrier than she is. And if Iori Kakuzawa isn't the beast but its handler losing grip… I don't know what'll happen. Now's the time she needs her energy the most and it's almost gone…"  
"Her energy, yeah" Bando agreed. "But her spirit, Doc. As long as she's got that, she can work miracles."

Bando's cellphone sprang to life and he found Nana's number gracing the screen. Smiling he answered the call while Kurama turned back onto his belly to relax. Bando wouldn't smile for long, given Nana's news.

-

Nana spent a good slice of the ninety minutes before her sudden appearance ducking and diving out of Hiro's way as she unconsciously defied Bando's worries by staying awake and lucid in front of her friends while her boss effed and blinded to his errant Soul-man in San Francisco. Through most of his conversation Nana and Kohta's faces turned scarlet whilst Mayu's – scarlet already – tried hard not to corpse up in the face of a respectable gentleman losing his cool in front of the impressionable (and inebriated) teenager. His rantings reached a crescendo, and Nana suddenly dashed through a door just as Hiro pitched the telephone violently at the adjacent wall. The object shattered into a shower of plastic and circuitry in front of the onlookers and he immediately regretted his outburst - pleading with Nana not to leave - through the door she ducked through. Not doubting his sincerity she opened the door slightly to hear him, calmly beckoning him to be silent.

"Are you going to fire Harvey?" she asked.  
"He claims he's come under with pneumonia, and just happened to be sneezing in front of a known hash-den that was busted by the police, as-you-do. If his story checks out I'll shift him back to 1-to-4am like last year, if it doesn't… I may have to. I know he's your friend but it's for the best. Anyway, about tonight…"  
"I know, play the disc straight through, no callers…"  
"That's the thing, Blu. Have you read the papers today?" Hiro asked, and Nana shook her head. "There's all this shit about an American senator's daughter vanishing in town a few days ago, word on the street is that Taurus snatched her…"  
"She's a Diclonius?... interesting."  
"Yeah, so the deal is that the MD read the same paper and thought it'd be a good idea to make a public appeal to find her… without mentioning the rumour."  
Nana did a stern double-take. "If we're not mentioning her Diclonism why not just let the regular stations handle it? It's only going to stir shit up more, isn't it?"  
"You know how his Lordship is. Any press is good press."

Nana re-entered the room, looking _very _annoyed.  
"If you want me to read this, I'm going on record with the rumour. I'm not gonna say they took her at all but it would look a lot better if we painted her up as an innocent victim of circumstance. Plus there's a good chance that the Yanks can handle her condition a lot more than _our_ pinheaded government can. And if anything happens to her as a _consequence _it's a diplomatic incident, not even Kakuzawa wants a part of that… (_From what Bando says Briarecht might, but certainly not Kakuzawa)_" she kept the last part to herself.  
Hiro was dumbstruck. "It's ballsy, I'll give you that. But I still think bringing the D-gene up could hurt her a lot more than us."  
Nana reached for a water tap and splashed some liquid over her face and hair before addressing the cold hard fact- "… you've got a point. But if your word is correct then American or not she's leaving that place in a shoe-box and you know it. Even if Taurus are still hot at us for the Christmas Day prank I pulled last year somewhere along the line we've gotta decide if our station is more Oskar Schindler than Ozzy Osbourne."

Hiro became annoyed at her. "Okay, I'll be blunt. DON'T MENTION IT. We could be shut down for this if they're up the government's ass as much as they boast and what will _you _do then? I don't want you to wind up there like some lab rat, you've worked too hard."  
Kohta and Mayu looked on agape- he was speaking from the heart. Nana melted in front of her boss and hugged him hard, tears in her eyes. She thanked his honesty then tip-toed up to his ears to whisper.

"_I've already done my time in that shit-hole. If she dies in there and I do nothing to stop it I'd never forgive myself._"

"You… oh my god… I wish you hadn't told me that." Hiro quivered. "Have it your way. I don't tell you this just as your boss, I tell you this as your friend and a concerned human being- many people can die on your words even if they mean well. I'm _asking_ you not to mention the rumour because if there's _any_ hope that she's merely gone swanning about for a day or two this needn't go any further. Now you have to decide, young lady, _if this is about justice or revenge_."  
"What do you mean by that?" Nana barked.  
"You _know _what I mean" he replied, without taking his eyes off hers. "Now let's just chill the hell out and get you prepared, you're on in an hour."  
Hiro left the room in a huff, and Nana stared at him pacing down the corridor then bowed her head. She took a seat next to Kohta and sobbed a little more.

"He's right… he's completely goddamn right."  
Her eyes shot skyward as Kohta leaned his arm over her shoulders.  
"_What do I do? Bando? Papa? What do I do now?_"

* * *

"So let's look at the evidence- The broken water tank. The cryptic note. The hand-held sander and bent knife. The bone fragments. The exotic fish. The diary. The Showaddywaddy LPs. The clothes catalogues with bookmarks in the lingerie sections. The cassette tape with Gollum's MTV Movie Awards acceptance speech on a two-hour loop. Who lives in a secret room like this? Ganso, it's over to you." 


	12. Battle lines

**DISCLAIMER**: Major Elfen Lied characters owned by Genco, others by me. The usual.

Nana's latest torture came straight to the heart- does she have the gall to make a passionate plea to the city to show uncharacteristic lenience to a fellow member of her race, or would it be more advisable to simply say Angela was a little girl lost in the woods, as it were?

* * *

**CHAPTER TWELVE**

* * *

Iori Kakuzawa stood and stared as the sweet, tender smile that was not his to own tore his soul out and swallowed it whole. Four years of looking for the one thing he knew could shatter his dreams and not only did she appear under his nose that instant he realised she had also been responsible for lifting his spirits during the never-ending tedium of his goals. Kakuzawa willingly worked insane hours not just because he _could_ – as he lived on the island – but also because he would spend his 'spare' time going to lengths to flesh out his private quest to rule the world. For most of the time he would approach this with glee but even _he_ would get bored of his own fantasies and find himself awake at 3 in the morning staring at vast A3 sheets full of scrawls of various Diclonius bloodlines through the ages with no particular idea how to apply them to his ideas. Most of the time at 3AM they may as well have been laundry lists to his waning eyes.  
He'd found Diclonius FM by accident 4 months ago wanting the smallest interruption to the marching bands in his head- Kakuzawa had fiddled with his DAB radio and come across "Hellraiser" by Motörhead – he'd bought he single 17 years ago but hadn't listened to it recently so he let his mind get lost. Immediately after the final roar of the guitar his attempt to reach for the OFF button was curtailed by an almighty Valkyrie cry. He never looked back. 

"You're good, you are. You're damn good" he found himself saying to the inanimate photograph, half-insane at the revelation. "Forty-eight years of business experience and you've been completely outplayed by a 10-year-old freak. Well done Iori, you fool." Shaking his head and laughing he produced a handkerchief and wiped the tears from his eyes. He began to mutter to himself about what he could do about her, finding Konig and trying to avert the looming political catastrophe that lay in Room 18 whilst doodling on a post-it pad he found, placing the note next to the keypad and carefully placing the bookshelf back up. Re-arranging the contents in no particular order (to disguise the holes smashed into the rear) he hoped that only he and Konig himself knew about the room, and prayed it stayed that way until he could solve his problems (_hopefully _all at once) and get back to the 'humdrum' of world domination. Briarecht's survival, for now, was a necessary evil.

-

Konig left Angela behind with his own beam lingering for a moment before turning into a stoic look of urgency. Figuring it would be a matter of hours – if not minutes – before Briarecht returned to start his own line of 'questioning' he had to act fast, except that knowing in his own mind Kurama was certainly dead he had no lucky charm to bolster his confidence. He ruffled his hair for a moment and found a gentleman's toilet to collect his thoughts- staring into the equal/opposite soul he could see in a mirror he noticed slight bags under his eyes and – more worryingly – sapphire streaks appearing in his jet-black mane. He took one of his vectors to pick at some of the more noticeable flares of blue but eventually deduced that was useless, instead producing a comb from his overalls to style as much black hair to the sides as possible to camouflage the roots.

"Okay" he started drafting a mental plan – "The cover's going to go sometime today, Doug. The next chopper to the mainland is at 6pm to go to the bay for supplies, just under two hours to go- there won't be another until tomorrow morning when you come back, then in the afternoon at three. The elevators are out of the question as Briarecht will shut those down first, and the main exit is three storeys above and 500 metres of corridors away plus reception, so without her you could clear that distance in about three minutes tops. She looks like she weighs about fifty… sixty kilos tops so that's a good six minute dash. The scrubs won't be able to get past your vectors but you're not sure about the SAT response time, or whether or not the chopper will get to the mainland before it's shot out of the sky… Damn, you'll have to wing it."  
Konig splashed some water onto his face and relieved himself into a urinal, then left the room to head straight towards Kurama's office. On getting there he opened a drawer in a desk to produce some hair-dye, and upon shutting the drawer he noticed the peculiar arrangement of the bookshelf. Without hesitation he shoved the shelf aside to reveal the keypad and the tell-tale note. It read-

"_I know. Refectory at 4:30, and hope Briarecht doesn't find out or she will die for sure – Director"_

-

"I love the smell of stodgy potatoes in the middle of the afternoon. It smells like… the cook's blood-soaked turds."  
The look Kakuzawa got from the servant in return could have killed a herd of wildebeest. Evidently the cook in question heard the news that the Director was to be relieved of his command, as the four-letter response bellowing from the kitchens announced with a glorious ring. Kakuzawa took what could have been his last meal at the Institute with a few packs of butter and sat by himself on a table in the corner of the refectory. Few other staff were skiving time off just to eat then, just the way Iori liked it. He eased back on the pugh he was occupying, allowing himself to get lost in the noise- he could hear Diclonius FM's jingles playing loud and clear on a radio set on the counter. He began to eat his meal when footsteps from the door rang the arrival of the man he hoped to see.

Kakuzawa didn't look back up to Konig at first, focusing on his overalls while munching on food. He swallowed the portion to speak to him- "Best get yourself a meal or people will get suspicious… Douglas."  
Konig, without replying, complied and politely obtained a plate of the unappetising meal before rejoining Iori at the table. In contrast to the former Director he took slow, easy spoonfuls as if to take time over the course. His eyes met Iori's – both stares were relaxed, calm but urgent- subconsciously aware of the situation at hand but not necessarily in agreement with each other.  
"My first question is this-" Kakuzawa began to speak – "Do you spend _all_ your wages on fish food and Loreal? You don't meet many janitors with black hair and blue roots."  
Konig laughed. "You appear to have conjured that question on the fly, sir. That leads me to believe that you discovered my identity by accident."  
"Perhaps. But that's not the _real_ surprise, Douglas. I read the note Dr. Kurama left you and I can tell you two things that will make your day, and I'll tell you them as I'm in a surprisingly good mood."  
"Go on."

Kakuzawa leant into Konig's ear to truthfully convey that he knew Kurama was still alive, and what this mysterious 'Nana' had been doing in the last 4 years. Konig's look of pleasant shock barely registered that the one person who Kurama prayed would never know these things now _needed_ to know them, and had come across the information by happenstance.  
"How's Number Eighteen?" Iori continued.  
"Briarecht ordered her to be killed, but before Number Twenty-Two could complete the task she… I hesitate to use the word, excuse me – menstruated."  
"… she's a Purebreed?" Kakuzawa asked in surprise. Konig nodded. Kakuzawa shifted his look off for a moment. "Unfortunate for us, she would be a fantastic research specimen."  
"Unfortunate for _you_." Konig replied. "Kurama told me."  
Not for the first time Iori cursed his short-sightedness. What hope did he have of maintaining _any_ level of secrecy in his life if everybody from his most trusted researcher to the idiot who mops the floors knew of his master plan?

"Well… what do you suggest we do?" Iori asked. As Konig took more time to think of a clearer solution a loud voice boomed out on the radio-  
"_Aaaaaand that was Sabotage by the Beasties, good people of Kamakura. In a change to our advertised broadcast tonight at 7:30 we will NOT be live from San Francisco with Harvey "Fillet of Soul" Walnut due to technical problems, but we have a treat for you tonight, we've not only healed the sick – we've raised the deaaaaaaad! Filling in for Harvey tonight from 7:30 is our very own Goddess of the Graveyard Shift, Bluuuuuu Sevens!"_

---

Mayu produced some more coffees from the nearby machine for Kohta and Nana while the latter agonised over the question of outing a complete stranger as a possible enemy to human safety. Good intent aside she only knew that the public could trust _her _to mind her behaviour, not anybody else. Nobody knew for certain of Angela's openness (or lack of) about her race, and more to the point who she'd come into contact with – whether or not she'd asked people for directions, bought an ice-cream or gone for a drink with a potential beau made little difference. She'd disappeared and – in Nana's mind – no answers were forthcoming from the general populace. At the same time she felt it was her duty to hold herself as a protective, healthy influence on her brothers and sisters as well as an example that not everything new was a threat to the status quo humans would rather kill for than subjugate. Nana didn't hold _that _against the human race because she knew damn well an organisation of Diclonius would do the same thing… and succeed for far longer.

" I've made my mind up. I'm not going to mention it. If her family wants to bring it up, it's up to them." She said, wiping her eyes.  
"That's not fair on you to have to make that call" Mayu replied, humour gone. "It hurts, doesn't it?" Nana nodded. Mayu hugged her and smoothed the back of her head down, barely stifling her own tears.  
"There's still every chance she isn't there, that she's just gotten smashed out of her brains and holed up with some beefcake she found in a bar" Mayu continued. "He'll want to keep her there, especially with what she could do with those hands of hers…"  
"That's not funny!" Nana painfully laughed. "I dunno… I guess… I guess I'm just being paranoid. If she can get halfway around the world by herself without being fingered for murder she must have a few screws well tightened."  
"Exactly, she'd be doing the fingering."  
"Stop it, damn you!" Nana lost what little composure she had left, degenerating into giggling spasms. Kohta gripped her tight from behind, ruffling her hair whilst she let it all out of her system, cursing their iron determination to cheer her up no matter what. Minutes after she settled down to drink her coffee Hiro re-appeared.

"The MD wants you."

Nana followed Hiro through the winding corridors slightly less anxious about the situation, yet still guarded. Both of them were right about the importance of the announcement, and both recognised that her words left no possibility of leaving everybody involved completely innocent, privately or publicly.  
"Hiro, I've given it some thought, and I've decided not to say anything after all, it's not fair for me to indict an innocent girl like this, especially a foreigner." She said to him. Still walking he looked behind him and smiled, adding "He'll be glad to hear that, I'm not sure even he wants to be dabbling in this right now. This is the closest we've come to a shit-storm here, and you've been with us for most of our time- I dare suggest that he'll value your opinion more than most. Are your friends done sodomising the coffee machine yet?"  
"Not even _close_." Nana chuckled as they reached the door. "My step-sister's had a skinful earlier today and her head's pounding like my heart!"

Hiro opened the door for her. "Nana, please come in" the station's Managing Director asked in a worried tone. She entered silently, smiling back at Hiro as he shut it then departed.  
"I hear you have a query about the American girl's disappearance, and the announcement I'd like you to make" He pressed Nana.

"I _did_, sir. I thought it would have been better to make her look as innocent as possible, an example how people of my kind can be decent, caring folk given enough love and chances to better themselves. But I don't think now's really the time for me to make that sort of speech, sir, it seems more like an advertisement than a genuine plea for help. She could be anywhere in the bay and it wouldn't help to stir up anything… racial at the minute."  
"I see where you're coming from, Nana. I was around for Black activism in the 60s decades before the Million Man March and it took that level of serious organisation to make serious levels of change. And for the record I thank you very much for raising those concerns. But the thing is, Nana… well… we may _have_ to bring it up after all."  
"… excuse me, sir?"  
"Our ears in the police force are counting up witness descriptions by the dozen. The best we can gather without begging for passes is that on Sunday morning she was seen staggering half-naked on the beachfront, horns on full display, hung over like a Lord. She'd been asking people for the time and directions to her hotel amongst other things, and – for your ears only – an unmarked limousine approaching the beach around 11:55."  
"Taurus."  
"Probably."

Nana shot two vectors out to grind together in the air out of futility, completely invisible to the MD- otherwise her fury at the situation was fully apparent. "…. Bastards."  
"They've got us over a barrel, Nana. The best we can do is make an off-the-cuff beg to them to let her go, otherwise her family will be led along by false hopes and campaigns well into next year. But for God's sake Nana don't mention Taurus specifically."  
Nana's red face conveyed that any chance of remaining impartial in this case was now impossible in both execution and concept. She approached her boss and looked at him glassy-eyed.  
"I can't make that guarantee, sir, I'm not sure I trust myself. If I screw this up I've dropped you _right_ in it and I don't think that's my call to make."  
The Managing Director removed his glasses and grabbed her hands.  
"It's not your call. It's mine. You're in this all the way, hence so am I."

---

The door opened to Room 18 again as Angela strained her tired eyes to see Briarecht approaching her once more with a single guard, confidently approaching from the control room and standing just outside her 4-metre reach. She clawed with her real hands to get to her feet, undisguised contempt aimed in his direction.

"_What do you want now, asshole_?" she asked the obvious.  
"_Excuse mein English, I detest zat language_" he replied. "_Ze reason you are still alive right now is zat you are capable of re-producing ze way us humans do, and zat is of particular interest to mein superiors just up ze road in Tokyo."_  
Briarecht produced a syringe – without needle – containing an off-white liquid.  
"_You see zis? Zis is an insemination syringe. Inside is ze sperm of a male Diclonius from our head laborartory near Okayama, it was donated to us by Masanori Kuriyama, ze greatest living male Diclonius, of his own free will to furzer his legacy. He has ze strength of a thousand regular humans and over forty vectors to apply zat strength, and he has single-handedly killed four thousand of our finest soldiers in just under an hour wizout a single visible weapon. But money has talked, and he is now playing ball with us. All we now need is a willing mozer to bear his son…_"  
"_Go to hell_" was her clear, lucid response.  
"_I had a feeling you might say zat. Guard!_" he called out. A trooper walked forward, brandishing a tranquiliser gun. He fired a single shot into her right shoulder and before she could yell out for any futile help she re-entered a forced sleep.

"Guards, leave me!" Briarecht barked in perfect Japanese. "And squeeze this Semi-Skimmed milk back into the carton, it's clean." He handed the syringe back to the guard on his way out. As the door shut behind him, he observed Angela dozing on the floor, grinning- her head lolled on her left arm and her legs crossed un-naturally together.  
"To the victor go the spoils, Iori" he said to himself as he removed his shirt.

* * *

"_Tonight at 7:30 Blu Sevens will be hosting our special edition of the Soul Shift live not from San Francisco but right here from our humble Kamakura studios, playing all your old favourites whilst making a braaaave attempt to dabble outside her hellish realms of experience. Fair play to her, because – after all – to appreciate what is pure you must all taste what is wicked. And later on in the broadcast we also have a special public appeal to make to you, so don't touch the button lest your index finger turns to dust!_" 


	13. Flame to the fuse

**DISCLAIMER**: I can't be arsed to do gag footnotes at the moment, they're taking too much from the story.

The fateful hour approaches as Blu Sevens will break her silence on the issue of the day. Kurama will need to break his reliance on other people in order to regain his independence- and through that reclaim the dependence of others.

* * *

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN**

* * *

**  
**

Angela's frequent visits to sleep were starting to annoy her. Remembering her last period of extended consciousness she'd already answered the question of if she would ever see a friendly face again- "yes", if she could count her impending child. The prospect of being born into this sickening bondage disgusted her soul not only in the manner it would happen but also in how the child would have its life scripted well in advance by some faceless maniacs in a boardroom. Going purely on what the bald man said the boy would be able to annihilate any force thrust against it with minimal remorse.  
"_Boy? What if it's born a girl?_"  
In her dream Angela shuddered- would it be discarded or terminated should it be born the wrong gender? What about a disability? Not enough invisible arms? One horn slightly shorter than the other?  
Suddenly her mental vision became blurry- the meagre sedative was wearing off forcefully. Her eyes began to prise themselves open slow but sure, and she began to make out a man's head moving rapidly in a uniform fashion, panting furiously- she could feel her body moving in the same manner of time (in particular her butt bouncing up and down) and patches of sweat dripping onto her body in places, as well as her face getting steadily warmer as time passed.  
Squinting a little her eyesight cleared a little, and recognised the face of the man rapt with feverish concentration.  
"… _Doug? Is that you?_" she asked.

"_Yes, Angela._" Konig panted.  
"_What's going on?_"  
"_I'm just taking you to a chopper. We're leaving the island right now. Briarecht was about to rape you but we took him out. We've got minutes to leave._"  
"_Rape? What?… Oh my god… I feel sick. He told me he was going to shoot some maniac's sperm into me, then shot me with a dart._"  
"_Hmmph. That was probably a lie, but we've got to get you out of here all the same! Can you run?_"  
"_No, I feel like shit._"  
"_That's OK, we're almost at the pad._"

Konig, with Angela in his arms, dashed through the reception area not caring if they were spotted by several staff members. He kicked the front door through forcefully and ran with every ounce of might towards the loaded helicopter. Just before the large door shut on the side they leaped through into the chopper's belly, falling onto the floor and grabbing breath. A familiar voice rang out from the pilot's section-  
"Gansoooo! Thought you were gonna miss me, you were runnin' behind… hey, who's the babe?" the pilot said, looking over his shoulder.  
"I'm taking her to hospital on the mainland, Shin- she needs emergency attention!"  
Not convinced, the pilot got out of his seat and joined them in the hold. Upon noticing her horns his face blanched.  
"She's an experiment! Are you nuts?"  
Konig shot a vector out at the pilot's throat and pinned him to the side wall, and another snaked out to destroy the audio links to the facility's control section.

"Listen to me, Shin- she's not an experiment, she's that American girl that vanished on Sunday. I need to get her to the US Embassy in Tokyo as soon as possible, safe and well!"  
"I can't fly her all the way there!" Shin rasped.  
"I don't want you to. Fly to the station in Kamakura as usual" – Konig said this calmly whilst producing a map and showing it to Shin, holding his finger over a grass field – "But please fly over _this_ point and drop us there. Once we're gone you can go to the station and radio in help. Sorry for involving you but we're righting a serious wrong."  
Konig let Shin go. The pilot gasped for breath and held his throat, a look of fire in his eyes. "You're in deep shit for this, Ganso, you hear?!?"

---

Kakuzawa returned to his former office with a plan conjured to tell Briarecht that he'd found the thirteenth chamber empty, Kurama having escaped with the specimen somehow and ensconced it somewhere on the mainland to retrieve it for his own ends, not really caring if Albert bought it or not; he found the office empty and in a very messy state- paperwork strewn his desk covering everything in a mixture of Japanese and German rants. Taking his 'old' seat once again he wondered if he had what it took to pull this of for a minute, when suddenly the telephone rang. He picked it up with an irritable "Hello."  
"Iori Kakuzawa?"  
"Yes?"  
"Yutaka Mishima, Diet." Kakuzawa groaned. "This is the third time I've tried to ring you in the past 3 hours, it's not like you to duck us over such a trivial issue as your electricity supply, you're normally prompt and willing to cooperate."  
Iori wiped his brow and answered- "I'm sorry I did not get in touch with you, but I've been fairly busy today trying to tie up my affairs and hand control over to Briarecht…"  
"_Who_?" the voice interrupted in surprise.  
"Albert Briarecht, he came to take over…"  
"What time did he arrive?" Mishima snapped. Kakuzawa definitely raised an eyebrow.  
"About nine this morning. Why?"  
"We fired him two weeks ago. We were about to have him arrested for misappropriation of state funds and he disappeared."

"… I see. What do you want me to do?" Iori asked.  
"Make sure he doesn't leave, we'll send Special Forces there by midnight at the latest. We'll be in touch."  
"Thank you. I'll settle the bill with the electric company tomorrow. Goodbye."

-

A naked, sweating Briarecht kneeled down at Angela's rear, not blinking for one second. Like a lion poised to take its prey he awaited the perfect moment to begin his conquest of the helpless Diclonius. Something caught his eye for a moment on her body- he prised her tender skin down find the remnants of the phrase "¥500 a go" doodled crudely on her buttocks.  
"Was this a premonition, or an unsatisfied customer?" he wondered aloud, certain nobody would hear him. Briarecht then dropped his humour and looked on at the maiden, transfixed. Moving closer towards her on his knees and about to place himself inside her he suddenly heard the door open in the control room behind, and turned around alarmed.  
His face met the heel of Iori's foot ten times swiftly and he collapsed beside her in a bloody heap. Before he could utter a word Kakuzawa produced a tranquiliser gun of his own and shot several rounds into Albert's torso, and the usurper fell unconscious.  
"YOU DARE TO RUN ME OUT OF MY DREAMS FOR YOUR OWN, YOU F?!#ING PRICK?!!?" Iori yelled, apoplectic. "I should ask Marvin to slice that pin-dick of yours off and shove it up your ass!"  
Iori grabbed Angela then hauled her carefully inside the control chamber and left the room. He then held his card in the door's locking system and entered a ten-digit code to lock it. Running back to his office he grabbed his intercom, furiously jabbed every button on it and spoke-

"This is the Director speaking. Would Ganso please report to Experiment Room 18 immediately, this is of the highest urgency. Ganso to Room 18 Now! Also to all members of general staff, disregard every single order by Albert Briarecht- I repeat, disregard every single order by Briarecht; out."

Kakuzawa reached for his trusty radio, making sure it was tuned in to DFM for the Blu Sevens special in a shade over 90 minutes. Satisfied this was the case he reached back for the intercom to find Arakawa's office.  
"Arakawa?"  
"… yes, sir? What's going on?"  
"I'm taking this Institute back whether any bastard likes it or not. Do me a favour, quickly."  
"What, sir?"  
"Get a Yellow-Pages and find the phone number for Diclonius FM, specifically for on-air calls. I've got a hunch to follow."

---

Kurama laid out still on the sofa, trying with no particular urgency to fall asleep; Bando had gone salvaging through the other hotel rooms and Nyu and Lucy were time-sharing the same dozing body as usual on the room's floor. Out of everybody he'd ever met he was still the only person he knew who hated trying to relax when everything in the situation pointed out the opposite as a necessity, but the fact was aside Nana's broadcast everything was seemingly in hand… or to be more accurate, out of _his _hands. His wounded body needed _exercise_, not more rest – four years after four tenths of a second of near-fatal wounding and burning this one pathetic little scratch to his back seemingly made him feel far worse.  
Fed-up he slowly got up from his 'bed' to mildly stretch his torn body around as best as he could on his solitary right leg, then panicked slightly- Bando had either forgotten his hospital crutches or neglected to take them from the car he lent Kohta. Scanning the room around he spotted an unused lamp in the front quarters, and prepared to hop his way towards it. Instead of blindly jumping on the spot / moving forward as there was a good chance he'd stomp on Nyu's face he crouched back down on to catch the sofa and thrust himself by his right arm slowly towards the dividing wall between the rooms. Slowly he'd made the progress he desired and reached the wall.

Now came the hard part- the lamp was on the left-hand wall feet from the door and he was on the right-hand part of the wall, so he had to jump to the left-hand, work his way along and – remembering the door swings _outwards _–pray Bando wouldn't return for a bit. He made a quick prayer to whichever deity was on duty and made the leap of faith… stretching his arm out a little too late and banging his head on the wall, still remaining on his foot. Unconsciously paging Nana's bad-hair-days with his tongue he resumed the journey, alternating moving his right foot forward slowly and gripping the left wall furiously until reaching the talismanic lamp. He quickly glanced at the foot of the lamp to make sure it _was_ disconnected, then grabbed it with his left hand and held it to his armpit. Practising the timing of foot-then-lamp for a few seconds he got a steady, painless rhythm going. Smiling at long last he swung around 180 degrees.

He found Lucy standing there clapping, seemingly without a trace of sarcasm, and his smile disappeared sharply to be replaced by a hellish scowl and a raspberry for its own sake.  
"Feel free to help me out at _any _time!" he yelled in derision, arms outstretched.  
"I didn't want to interrupt, you were doing well… oh my god, your chest!" Lucy exclaimed with revulsion. Kurama looked on puzzled but then remembered that he was topless for the first time since leaving the hospital. Looking down he saw for himself again the thing that haunted his days for four years straight- three scarred hand-prints; one by his left pectoral and two either side on his abdomen. Closing his eyes in remembrance the anger disappeared from Kurama's voice-  
"They're from Mariko's vectors, Lucy- the only thing I have left of her. I was willing to die with her but she wasn't willing to let me, and for four years I wondered to myself if she pushed me away to save me because I was her father, or to reject me because I left her alone for her entire life. I won't know the answer at least until I die, and even then I'm not so sure."

Lucy stepped forward to reply, seemingly in sympathy. "As _you_ said to me, it's your cross to bear. And I can't tell you the answer either. But I _will_ say you have the luxury of knowing someone will forgive you _before_ you die."  
Kurama knew very well she was referring to Nana. He remembered a little of what Kohta said to him in the taxi and countered her statement in an even, hopeful voice:  
"What makes you think _he_ hasn't, just because he won't say it?"  
Lucy turned her head away from him. "… coming from you that hurts, it really does. But I hope you're right…. AAACK!"

Lucy clutched her head, staggering to the wall. Kurama asked "What's wrong?"  
"Two Diclonius are here, less than 100 metres away. One male, one female, they're talking to each other. I can't tell if they mean us harm."  
"Can you talk to them?"  
"I don't know, I'll try… … they're not listening, but I think they know I'm here."  
Kurama made his way swiftly to the light-switch nearest the door and turned them off, whispering to Lucy to look through the window. He joined her momentarily after clipping her wounded ankle by accident with the lamp, and they both looked outside at the two growing dots coming in through the evening light. They could slowly make out a barefoot man dressed in what appeared to be work overalls and a woman wrapped in a sheet wearing boots twice the size of her feet. Crossing the hotel forecourt they suddenly came to a stop- the woman tapped his shoulder and pointed in the direction of their room, just as Lucy and Kurama ducked out of sight.

"Bando! Bando, where are you?" the man cried out.  
"Douglas? Douglas, is that you?" came the reply from the room.  
"… KENSUKE?!? The blazing shits are _you_ doing here?"  
Kurama revealed his face to Konig through the front window and waved meekly- both were frankly shocked to see each other again, circumstances aside. Before either of them could continue that thread Kurama laid his eyes on a shivering Angela, who was stood there in her tiny blanket.  
"Uh… Is _she_ who I think she is?" Kurama asked with fear.  
"Have you read the papers?"  
"Yes."  
"Then she is."  
"Then we're in trouble."  
"NO SHIT. Where's that stark raving poof Bando got to?"  
"Poof? POOF?!!? At least I'm getting some through the _front _door not the Tradesman's, unlike Dandy Doug here!!" the welcome cry came from a bursting door three apartments west. Bando strolled over to Konig and they exchanged manly pats on the back. A thoroughly relieved Kurama made his way out through the corridor soon enough, and faced his pet project for the first time since the incident on the bridge.

"What are you doing with that thing?" Bando asked Kurama who was still cradling the lamp in his armpit. "I left your crutches behind the sofa." Kurama burst into a fit of laughter, shaking his head and circling his finger in its direction as if to say he'd finally lost the plot. Turning slightly towards Konig he began to speak.  
"Before you ask, Douglas, My daughter Mariko is dead. I was caught in the blast and she shoved me aside, hence I meet you without one leg and a lot of skin. I'm sorry I couldn't free you myself, I didn't have time."  
Konig walked up to Kurama and patted him on his shoulders, trying hard not to lose his composure. "That can wait, sir. We need to get Miss Hayes to the Embassy in Tokyo as soon as possible… um, do you have another Diclonius here? I sensed her about two minutes ago."  
"Yes… Lucy."  
"WHAT?"  
"_Um... Excuse me, guys, can I get inside please? I'm naked under this thing…_"

---

Nana began her fateful march down the halls towards the studio she passed out in hours earlier, Kohta and Mayu being led by Horace not far behind. She spotted the trash can she'd flung her last Lucky Strikes at and found that it had been emptied. Regardless of her numerous annoyances that followed throughout the day she was glad to be rid of them, praying her body wouldn't need them after today. Up until the Angela bombshell she figured that all she needed to do was survive today and it would all work out- she'd quit the cigarettes, work later in the day, get some serious studying done and even more serious shut-eye. She'd clean her skin up, put on a little more weight, buy some more-outrageous clothes and pay Bando back for his patience at her not having the energy for she-knew-what for almost a month.  
Thinking about it this job had taken far more from her than she realised. But it had given her so much more in return- besides giving her an M.O. it fuelled her desire to be accepted amongst people as peers- people who would see what she was capable of and smile, not scream. She was proud of her job and even prouder that it didn't involve anything serious. Until the Angela bombshell.

They reached the studio's door and Horace directed Kohta and Mayu to take a seat on plush couches opposite the door. He kindly pointed out the twin speakers on either side of the door- naturally they'd be shouting out what was broadcast inside at a reasonable volume; he also informed them of the green and red lights above the same door- the green one currently alight.  
"Once the red light comes on, it's show-time" Horace calmly said to them. "The rooms are sound-proofed to a good extent but we do ask that there's silence outside the door, it's for the benefit of the broadcasters. She'll be live until 9:30 at the least but as this is live there's always the possibility of an over-run."  
Kohta and Mayu nodded respectfully, aware that such an occurrence would be counter-productive to their lot. They looked on at Nana, who appeared to be more worried than ever. Suddenly, Ennio Morricone's _The Ecstacy Of Gold _rang out on the speakers, and the red light flashed intermittently.  
Nana bowed her head… and laughed. "That's a little anti-climactic, isn't it? Aren't I supposed to be playing soul?" she asked Horace.  
"Sorry, Blu, force of habit" he sheepishly protested. "Guys, that's her warm-up music. We'd normally launch from that into a metal track but… I can't think of something appropriate to lead on to."  
"No matter. I better get in there, see you guys in two hours!"  
"Good luck, Nana!" Kohta cheered her on. "Don't say anything _I_ wouldn't say on air."  
"… I may as well go home then!"

Nana passed through the door and the red light ceased to flash, remaining on steadily.

* * *

Next on _Blu In The Face: _The easiest barrier to overcome would be that of language it seems. Words will answer the problems of some… and actions will answer those of others. 


	14. Reaching out to touch you

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own the principal characters of Elfen Lied. _(Author's note- edited August 3rd- minor plot hole fixed in footnote)_**  
**

And we are live from the DFM Studios in downtown Kamakura! Soul, shocks and surprises are in store as weights are lifted from shoulders across the city and trusts are accepted and rejected as the situation dictates. Don't touch that dial!

* * *

**CHAPTER FOURTEEEN  
**

* * *

**  
**

"Well… My fellow Kamakurans, horned or otherwise, I'll be honest with ya- if, like me, you woke up at 2:30 this morning and made a sombre pledge to give up sniffing glue, this may not be your day- Our master disc of soul classics has somehow made its way into an ashtray. Somebody up there likes me enough to attempt to get me either killed or – worse – fired, but I'm giving the cancer-sticks up starting tomorrow. The crass thing to do right now would be to induct each and every one of you to _my_ parental-advisory preferences, but you people misunderstand me- there is a time and a place for the karaoke dub of 'So What' and this isn't it. You shouldn't have to put up with me nagging you on your way to work _and_ when you get back home. Now, I've managed to pull something out of the bag for just a few minutes if you'll indulge me- Before the news saves my bacon at 8 we'll be playing The Supremes, Otis Redding, Cab Calloway and Sam & Dave, but up first is a classic most fans will consider an old lover who hits the sweet spot in your psyche every time- Marvin Gaye with I Heard It Through The Grapevine. Oh, and if any of you smart-a...Alecks claim to know more about soul, blues and funk than me… HELLLLLLLLP! Again, this is Blu Sevens playing Marvin Gaye and you're listening to Diclonius FM!"

As the track kicked in from a freshly-burned CD-R in the drive Nana carefully removed her headphones and stood up to look at Hiro through the glass window. Right here and now Blu Sevens didn't exist anymore- she was back to square one, deer versus car with an evening audience of almost six figures waiting for her to slip up.  
"How fast can you churn those out, Hiro?" she asked in desperation.  
"This is the last one… you should have enough now for ninety minutes. Two news breaks and two traffic reports and the appeal, that should cover the entire slot. Just be thankful Harvey forgot his 60GB player."  
"Oh I AM, don't worry (!). But I'm still shitting bricks over this speech…"  
As Nana fretted over it the telephone rang from Hiro's end. He answered the phone with a single word, listened and arched an eyebrow.

"Blu, I think you'd better take this. He claims to be Iori Kakuzawa from Taurus."

Nana's gaze stayed on his for a clear minute as she took instruction from the voices in her head- "_God damn, he took his sweet time. I bet he knows about you, about Papa, about Bando and about what happened today. That said, you'd better be careful about this, if he's complicit with that girl's disappearance…"_  
"I'll take it, um… Horace, can you switch tracks for a few? I've been waiting for this" she asked her co-worker. Nodding, he beckoned Nana to leave her seat and took over at the helm, checking from a piece of paper he can fit in work from the people she name-dropped inside 30 minutes. Nana put a hand on the handset on the console. Thinking for a second she opened a nearby drawer and removed a cassette tape, placed the tape into a recorder separate from the CD playing and reached for a volume knob marked 'telephone', turning it up to the maximum. Exhaling sharply she pressed the record button and answered the call.

"I see you finally had the nerve to hunt me down. What have I done to deserve having your attention after four years of indifference?"  
"_Angela Hayes is on her way to you. Safe and well._"  
"… go on."  
"_I extend my apologies for the attack on your house today- I didn't authorise it. Do you know a gentleman by the name of Douglas Konig?_"  
"… it rings a bell."  
"_Perfect. Make sure he gets the girl to the US Embassy in Tokyo, any time after the next two hours would be fantastic- you're better outside the small hours than I thought you'd be."_  
"I see you're a regular listener. Cut the sugar out- you may be doing me a favour but you're still the only person I truly despise. You know the reasons why."  
"_Consider it a favour to this country then. I'll be honest, you're the closest we've come so far to a Diclonius integrating with normal society._"  
"In my generation, you should add." Nana booked her slot on Kakuzawa's lengthy list of people who knew his 'secret'.  
"… _you got me there. Who told you, Kurama?"_  
"No, Lucy did. She killed your son, remember?"  
"_That figures. What I'm trying to say is that now you believe you're a member of civilised society you should be considering your fellow citizens' best interests above yours from time to time."_

"… Okay, _you_ got _me_." He'd impressed her. "This changes nothing between us, though. Oh, and I'm under no illusion that you're doing this out of sheer goodwill, You want something out of this, right?"  
"_Some__one.__ You know who._"  
Nana bowed her head. "I can't do that. She's fought harder for her freedom than I have."  
"_I had a feeling you might say that. Very well, do this for me and once I get this monkey off my back… I'll forget Lucy exists for about a year or so, possibly longer if I can find someone else. But mark my words, Number Seven, if she kills again the deal's off and now I know __exactly__ where to take things from there._"  
"Loud and clear, Mister Director. And not that I care, but what do you have planned for me?"  
"… _I never forget a favour, be it from a friend or an enemy. You'll hear from me again, possibly with a request or two."_  
"All the better, we need the money from the calls."  
Nana heard Kakuzawa emit a belly-laugh from the other end as she hung up the telephone confidently. Pressing the stop button on the recording console she re-wound the tape and played it. Hearing her words and Kakuzawa's with unmistakeable clarity she grinned and cued the tape back to the start. Beckoning Hiro and Horace together she placed the tape in Horace's hands.

"I want three copies made of this conversation, they're for both of you and the MD. At least four lives ride on this, mine included. Once I've got this sorted I'm leaving. If you don't hear from me in 24 hours… you'll know why."  
"This is freakin' heavy, Blu. What good can come of this?" Horace asked her.  
"The Yankee girl lives and we get in Taurus' good books. For now."  
"And that's worth your life?" Hiro asked, exasperated.  
"Any alternatives?"  
Horace and Hiro didn't answer through fear. She knew they cared for her, but only now did they show how much. Seeing they were close to tears she gripped them both to pay them back for everything they'd done to accept her as part of the crew, same as she'd done that morning; the difference being that no longer fettered by fatigue she felt that _she_ was empowering _them_ to carry on, just as they'd afforded her after losing her grip that day. The grip was tighter than ever now, especially as she was aware with this one act of insurance she was incriminating herself as someone else would know of her links to a serial killer, reformed or otherwise.

"Listen up!" Nana commanded, after letting them go. "I've got it on good authority that Kakuzawa is under a cosh of his own, so I want whoever's running him to think that nothing's changed. I'm playing through the first disc in its entirety while you do the dubbing on that tape, and at around 8:15 I'll make the appeal then leave the studio. Listen to the tape by all means but that must never air under _any_ circumstances, even if the Chief wants it done. I will be back at 4am for my final late-show and if we all get through this unscathed I want 7:30pm permanently, got it?"  
"Got it, ma'am!" Hiro smirked with a salute.

---

The most awkward silence fell on the hotel room as Lucy stared at Angela wearing the clothes she'd bought Nana that morning. The fact that she would need to get another set of the same garments at the same price with money she still didn't have paled to the notion of seeing a foreigner of the same species sitting in front of her. She'd watched her speaking with urgency outside and had only understood what she meant, not what she said- she was used to seeing frailty in herself and others but had always been able to find a way to overcome it by riding it out until someone else provided the voice of hope- Kohta, his annoying cousin, Mayu... and Nana, grudgingly. She looked on at Angela staring blankly, huddled in front of the sofa. Minutes earlier she'd watched the girl dress herself in complete quiet while shoving the men out of the door, and now she could see that even though Angela was incarcerated for three days - not years like her - she had absolutely nothing to guard her soul from the horrors of the facility. Not even a blood-oath. Not even a sweet promise.

"You can come in, she's dressed." Lucy spoke without particular emphasis. Bando opened the door, followed by neither Konig nor Kurama. His gaze fell on Angela and he shook his head without losing his composure. Kneeling down in front of her he gazed into her vacant eyes, then gently waived his hand to check for a response. He got a raised hand with a solitary finger held aloft, with a cursory "_I'm fine_" returned. Expressing a wound from that statement Bando kicked off his boots and leaped on the sofa behind her, arms behind his head. Seeing this Lucy went to find a kettle to boil in order to make warm drinks. Angela brushed her hair back as her thoughts raged on about what had happened to her over the horrible start to the week, and how it could still finish. A tear forced its way out of her left eye but she refused to break down and weep openly in the company of strangers, especially if there was no way she could make them understand how she felt- and that was just with the human contingent. She'd seen a total of three other people like her since the Sunday and no-one had anything in common with how she looked, acted or appeared to feel. All of them were completely comfortable with the way they were, and she was amazed - no, not quite the right word - bewildered as to how they coped with the demons inside to appear as human as possible. Out of the three, the only one who professed to teach her any understanding was the small boy with the greenish hair that humiliated her during that desperate escape attempt. He could also spell her downfall should they meet again, because of... the human she used to free herself. She was his friend and Angela held her in harms way, but surely he knew she didn't want to hurt his friend... he did know that, right?

Angela got up from her seat to look through the window to observe her rescuer talking with the other human in mixtures of English and Japanese, all in good nature like people who'd been down several roads before. Wiping the tear from her eyes she sighed and turned back towards the sofa, then stopped.  
She saw the other Diclonius holding her brutish companion upside down by the leg, screaming what appeared to be obscenities.  
"At least you could give her the couch, you ape." Lucy spoke with thin temper, dropping Bando on his face. He got up and thrust his mug into hers, and she smiled whilst looking over his shoulder to see Angela with a slight look of shock. Turning around Bando saw the same look and softened, defeated. Leaving the room in a huff he found the kettle boiling and assumed Lucy's duties while the girl herself faced her peer. She opened her mouth to begin to say something but stopped, again language dividing them.  
"I wish I'd taken those lessons Mayu offered me now. 'Get on the sofa', how does that go?" her mind ached. Instead of saying anything she pointed to the empty space and stretched her mouth with a 'huh'.  
Angela mercifully took her up on the offer and curled up onto the couch, nodding her head in Lucy's direction. Bando arrived with the drinks and roughly extended a cup to Lucy. Taking a grip on it she sniffed and then supped on it. Smiling in appreciation she took another cup for Angela.  
"Sorry for the head-drop" she snickered but Bando decided to go outside instead of dignifying that with a response. Taking the other cup she extended it to Angela, who gratefully accepted. Lucy took a longer sigh and began to indulge in her drink.  
"_I have no idea what you've been through, but I'm really grateful for your help_", Angela's mind uttered in Lucy's direction.

Lucy spat out her coffee in surprise, then looked back at Angela.

---

Two technicians passing Room 18 in the facility stopped for a few moments to indulge in idle chatter about Kakuzawa's broadcast denouncing Briarecht and the special edition of the Soul Shift due to take place the following hour. Acquiescing to themselves that today had been stranger than usual they spotted Arakawa leaving Room 22 with two used trays of food. One of the team engaged her as she informed them of Marvin's resolution of the hostage situation-

"Not long after lunch I brought Twenty-Two a bucket in for him to do his business in…"  
"He's still 'Medium risk?' he's been one of our most docile subjects!" the researcher interrupted her.  
"I know, I'm not even allowed to take him to a toilet yet! It must be so degrading, but he doesn't seem to mind. But he does score 15/8/2000 after all, I guess that does count for something?"  
"15/8/2000? That's the highest since…" he dropped his voice- "Number Thirty Five."  
"I know. But that he's had no kills should be celebrated, right?" Arakawa spoke up, chipper. "Anyhoo I took his bucket in and left the main door to the room locked as usual, then I had to take that jerk Briarecht on a tour of the place. We reached Number Eighteen but… something happened and she decided to take me hostage. Without warning Twenty-Two comes in through the door…"  
"The hell? How'd he get out?"  
"He carved his way through to the door electrics and tore the wiring out, it's quite simple really" Arakawa replied, giggling. "He comes in and it's a Wild-West Standoff, _owowowowow-wah-wah-wah_ and nobody gets hurt. I've just taken him back to his cell and he gets double food, just for saving my life! I can barely believe it!"  
As they continued their conversation the other researcher heard some thumps from the inside of the room. He ignored them for a few moments and then irritably turned to yell at Number Eighteen to keep the noise down.

He found Briarecht banging against the control centre, his clothes hanging loose above four puncture wounds on his torso.

Panicked he grabbed is companion's ID card and stuck it in one of two slots on the door before he could break his talk from Arakawa, placed his own into the other and feverishly entered a short manual override code, breaking Kakuzawa's lock. He rushed into the room to drag Briarecht out soon followed by the other researcher while Arakawa stood and watched in shock.  
"I didn't think Kakuzawa would do _that_" she said to herself as they helped him to his feet. His jaw hung loose with blood caught inside his mouth as he gasped for breath, spitting it out over the floor. Wiping his mouth he shoved both technicians aside and roughly grabbed Arakawa by one arm, hauling her off. Producing another gun from his pockets he jammed it roughly against her neck and cocked it.

"I'm going to use the boy. And you're going to help me."

* * *

"I think they're clear now, it's been almost an hour since they left and I've heard nothing from the SAT. He's right, that man- I'd have loved to have used that girl in lieu of Lucy but it couldn't be helped. As for Konig himself... well, he seems to be screwed quite tightly, I'll give him that. Plus, if he finds Kurama he'll stick around, and as long as I can keep that turd Briarecht locked up until the special forces get here I can devote all my energy towards tracking them. All that remains to do is... her. That really was a pleasant surprise, and the funny thing is as long as she's not especially dangerous to me or in general I don't really care about killing her anymore, I'll let the Christmas thing slide. Besides, if she _is_ an ally of Lucy... time to make the call, before some stupid bastard springs that fraud from his cell." 


	15. Going somewhere in a hurry?

**DISCLAIMER:** Again, I do not own any copyright of the principal characters of Elfen Lied in general, merely the original characters.

Kakuzawa's worst fears are about to come true.

* * *

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN**

* * *

"Hey miss, you forgot the… bucket." 

Marvin watched, chained for the umpteenth time, as his handler Arakawa was subjected to a rough treatment by a bloodied Briarecht, stood arms-length from her with his gun at her temple. He looked on silently as she whimpered, then at her captor- betraying no particular emotion of anger or amusement. This was the first time in his life he'd actually _wanted_ to kill a human being and – obviously – he was in no position to do so. But rest assured as soon the situation arose Marvin would take full advantage, as he knew that the man holding her hostage was doing this in desperation.

"I gather things have gotten out of control" Marvin began to speak. "You're not dead yet so I assume those wounds are from Mr. Kakuzawa."  
"Shut your mouth or she dies!" Briarecht scowled.  
"Kill her, see if I care. It just gives me a pretext to kill you. Either way pointing that at my friend was the stupidest thing you've done in your life and it's the only thing keeping you alive right now. Miss, what's going on?"  
"The director's called the SAT…ACK!"  
Briarecht clubbed her in the skull with the gun before she could finish that sentence. Instantly Marvin sliced his chains and began the slow march towards the control chamber, his eyes fixed on the menace before him without a single blink.  
"One more step and I'll have that gun from you. Drop it and I'll forget that happened" Marvin threatened with a clear voice.  
"Never mind, you little shit, I'll take care of him myself. All I have to do is seal the door and you two will rot in here forever" Briarect responded, still aiming the gun at Arakawa.  
"Your memory's not to good, is it?" Marvin boasted. "How do you think I got out in the first place?"  
"Ah yes… the wiring. Very well, little boy. I see you know how to escape…"

He aimed the gun at Arakawa's spine and pulled the trigger. She fell to the ground with a scream, contorting in agony.  
"Think you can stop me AND save her?"

Briarecht dashed out of the room, quickly locking it behind him. Marvin immediately wrenched the partition door to the control room off to tend to his wounded friend. Bleeding profusely from the back she tried to crane her head towards him.  
"Marvin… I can't… can't feel my…"  
"Relax, just relax, Miss. I'll get help" Marvin stammered, his eyes welling up.  
"Just… kill him. I'm done for, just… get that prick… for me."  
"Don't talk now, just stay awake. Stay awake!"  
Marvin angrily destroyed the panel next to the exterior door and sliced the wiring in the same way as earlier, defaulting the electrics and opening the door. On leaving, he was confronted by an armed guard. Smashing his gun to pieces he leaped onto the guard, knocking him to the floor. With mad fear in his eyes the guard began to stutter a plea, but Marvin cut him off-  
"I don't have time to explain. Briarecht has escaped, he's going to kill the Director. Where's the Director's office?"  
"Down the hallway, third left, take the stairs or the lift ten floors up!" The guard shrieked.  
"Get doctors inside, There's a woman in there badly wounded." Marvin demanded, releasing him to leave with haste.

Taking the third left as advised Marvin stormed down the corridor in time to see an elevator close its doors. Manically running towards the lift he dived forward, shooting out two vectors to prise the doors open violently.  
The tea-boy inside was quite shocked.  
"Sorry" Marvin matter-of-factly exclaimed, roughly grabbing him and throwing him out of the elevator. Pressing the button for the top floor he stood and watched as the doors he'd separated struggled to come together repeatedly, grating against their runners time and again but never fully shutting. His patience exhausted, Marvin left to take the stairs upward. Looking towards the sky he saw – to his fortune – the staircase in a rectangular spiral with a clear view to the roof. Taking hold of banisters one-at-a-time he used his vectors to swiftly propel himself to the top floor.

On reaching the door leading to the Director's suite he collected his breath and approached the opened doors, not hearing a sound.

---

At much a greater ease than earlier in the show Nana laid back in her chair staring through the window through to Hiro's booth, studying him and Horace working cassette machines and passing tapes between them. With a lazy smile she began to whistle along to the closing seconds of the track playing on air, fully aware her mic was on.  
"And that was the great Otis Redding, just sitting on The Dock Of The Bay as he has done for around forty years, I imagine. He claims he's wastin' time but didn't some philosopher say that time wasted enjoying yourself is never wasted time? Or was it that a weekend wasted was never a wasted weekend? It matters little because there's a full 48 hours to go before the real fun begins and right now I'm in charge of massaging your shoulders and taking those weary feet and putting them into buckets of warm, soapy water. Preferably nowhere near your radio's power lead, I'll save _that_ sensation for tomorrow morning. For those just tuning in Harvey Walnut was supposed to be hosting this segment but he's currently experiencing technical difficulties reaching us so you good people have to put up with me whining at you again. Okay, it is now 7:59pm on Diclonius FM and after the news I have to get all _serious_ for a second, I need you all to look out for somebody that went missing in the Bay area over the last weekend, details in a few minutes; and now we go to our news anchor and show producer, Hiro Funabashi."

Again Nana removed her headset and calmly placed it on the console, looking on as Hiro calmly read from a clipboard onto the airwaves in a fairly upbeat tone. Sipping from a cup of water her brain counted the seconds before she had to read from her own notes, and she glanced the script she'd hacked herself from nothingness over the last couple of minutes on a monitor to the side- sticking to the MD's recommendation about honouring her status as a Diclonius but portraying her as an innocent she had to keep it fairly smart but serious fashion, but with enough room to work some embellishments without straying from the topic too much.

She watched Horace dub the last tape with her phone call from Kakuzawa, when suddenly her console telephone sprang into life. Irritably she picked the handset up-  
"Who is it now?"  
"Taurus, again."  
"Didn't he say enough already?"  
"No, Blu… this is – uh – (**faded**) what did you say your name was again? (**clearer**) Marvin Nagase, chief of security."  
"Put him through, I've only got two minutes…. Hello, this is Blu Sevens?"  
"_Alias Number Seven, right_?"  
"… who wants to know?"  
"_My name's Marvin, I'm being held here in Room 22."  
_"… what?"  
"_Listen carefully. Iori Kakuzawa is dead._"  
"… WHAT?"  
"_You heard what I said. Albert Briarecht shot him minutes ago, I can't find him anywhere. Time is short, so we must be brief. What did he tell you about Angela Hayes?"  
_"That she was on the way."  
"_Did he say where?"  
_"No."  
"_Typical. Where are you supposed to be taking her?"  
_"Um… uh… the Embassy in Tokyo."  
"_Good. You must leave right now, Briarecht will be telling police to shut the roads off. Just make sure she gets there."  
_"What the hell's going on?"  
The phone cut off and Nana stared at the set in a mild panic. Fifteen minutes after ironing out a deal to guarantee the short-term survival of herself and her friends and it appeared to have been torn up as the ink was drying. The very moment she raised her head to look at Hiro she saw him counting down from five with his fingers…  
"_Damn you, Mr. Director. If I had any idea you were in such a hurry..._ _Shitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitokay…I'm ready_" she yelled in her brain.

"Alright, Kamakura, this is where I bring you all back to reality. I've made no secrets whatsoever of my racial origins on this station, point in fact I take a tremendous amount of pride in that I am a Diclonius and people tell me I have immense self-control over my alleged demonic impulses, in spite of what I throw your way in the mornings. But I have to tell you that there's a girl out there somewhere who is probably more afraid of herself than she is of anybody else. Her name's Angela Hayes and she's an American tourist who came here over the weekend on a short break from her studies. She, like me, is also a Diclonius. We're told at the station she went missing around noon last Sunday, and it's possible that she was abducted whilst unconscious, intoxicated or otherwise not in full control of her faculties.

I have it on good authority she arrived in this country as a fine, upstanding citizen of the United States with no criminal record to speak of. On the contrary, our sources explain she's a keen contributor to UNICEF, the WWF, Christian Aid, PETA, Britain's RSPCA and several other charities across the world; and that she was also part of the terrific relief effort during the terrible Asian Tsunami several years ago. Please understand me, people, she is a commendable humanoid being and she doesn't deserve to vanish off the face of the Earth in such a fashion, so I implore you good people not to let her. Her photograph was published in this morning's Tribune, if you didn't snag a copy reprints are available from here in the station from tomorrow morning; in addition selected TV broadcasts will continue to air it over the next few weeks. If you find her or have a good idea _where_ to find her Hiro will give you some important numbers in just a moment, so please call in. _And if by any chance you're listening, Angela, please get in touch- we all need to know you're OK_." - Nana spoke the last sentence in clean English- "Here's Hiro with the numbers."

-

"That was beautiful" Kohta said to Mayu, not a dry eye between them. He reached into his shirt pocket to pass her a tissue; she noisily blew her nose into it and Kohta did the same, not caring about it. Wiping his eyes he reached over to an adjoining table for a pot of tepid coffee to slurp from, when the studio door opened. Nana gave them both a stern, focused look.

"We're leaving. Now."

-

Marvin, head bowed, placed the telephone back on the receiver. "You were right, sir. They're going to the Embassy." he spoke as Briarecht pointed his smoking gun a clear ten metres away, closer to the door.

"Gut. Then we'll know where they'll be, won't we?" the monster spoke from behind. "Okay, this is what you are going to do. We have your friend in good hands in the infirmary, we'll do our damnedest to guarantee her survival. You will leave for the mainland in a few minutes time by personnel helicopter. We will drop you on the main road a good mile from central Tokyo, whatever car they are driving the American in must be stopped. I want the American unharmed, you hear me, Boy? There may also be two other Diclonius present- Number Seven and the criminal known as Lucy. I will give you their photographs momentarily- if you can bring them both back unharmed it will be a bonus but the Yankee must take precedence. Anybody else present you may deal with at your discretion. That means 'kill', by the way."  
"_She's dead already, boy"_ a voice croaked from the desk. "_Accept it and get the hell out of here."  
_"Who asked _you_?" Briarecht snapped back, firing another shot into Kakuzawa's shoulder from afar.  
Marvin turned to face him, his left fist clenched. "What will I do when I return with the three of them?" he spoke, glum.  
"I may be arrested by the special forces. Dog shit, for a warrior of your stature."  
"I see. I'll… be on my way then, sir."  
"Oh, here's the key to your clothes locker. I trust you won't want to go out stark naked, ja?" Briarecht spoke, handing out a small key. Marvin took it with his right hand, slouching off and out of the door. Kakuzawa raised his head for the last time to look at the defeated Diclonius walk out of the door, began to move his mouth but stared down the barrel of Briarecht's pistol, and - momentarily -the object moving swiftly from it towards his cranium.

"_Kurama deserved that honour, you fu…_"

Ignoring the working lift and the trick he perfected in haste Marvin took a sad pace down the stairs back to his 'home' level, staring at the floors. He gave himself up of his own free will… for this. To have friends made and stolen from him, to be passed around like some cheap trophy gun before it went off in a child's face and to be commanded to kill and kidnap with no feeling of reward. 'Indignity' was an understatement- toileting into a plastic bucket after dinner seemed like a regal luxury in comparison.  
After a few minutes walking he lifted his head back up to stare at his left hand. Unclenching it he regarded the chit of paper scrawled in Kakuzawa's writing he'd found and hidden from Briarecht, and again regarded the instructions. Picking his pace up a little he didn't change his face at all, but his mind was far more resolute in what he had to do.

"Thank you, Mister Kakuzawa. You've earned your rest, and I've had enough." He spoke to himself before approaching the infirmary several minutes later.

---

"What did you say?" Lucy spoke to Angela, shocked.  
"_I don't understand you._" the girl retorted.  
"Umm..." Lucy thought about how to communicate for a second, then pointed at Angela, moved her hand as if to mime a speaking mouth, then pointed to her own head.  
"_Are you saying... I talked to you with my telepathy?"_ Angela cottoned on. Lucy nodded her head.  
"_But how? you don't understand English."  
_Lucy decided to think back to her. "English?!? You're speaking Japanese... ... interesting."  
"_What?_"  
"Looks like our natural telepathy transcends language barriers."  
"_Um... ... can I switch this off? this is strange enough, if I can't even think to myself without you hearing me..."  
_Lucy turned her head to look out of the window at Koning and Kurama finishing their banter outside the window, about to return inside. Sighing for a moment she looked back to Angela.  
"Did you hear that?" she thought. Angela shook her head, visibly relieved.  
"Don't tell the others."  
"_Why not?"  
_"Just play along."

Bando finished his search for a radio, carrying a device that clearly fitted the hotel's abandoned visage. He was reasonably sure that it would still work in a pinch, and whilst it wasn't an essential piece of kit as he had his cellphone it would be nice to hear her voice again, especially now. Wiping his brow he opened the door just before Konig started to go back inside, walked into the hotel room and stopped in front of the open door.  
He saw Lucy picking up several objects strewn on the floor and thrusting one after another under Angela's nose, each time replied by a very annoyed shake of her head.  
"Nyu?" "_No, that's a shoe._"  
"Nyu?" "_No, that's a toaster."  
_"Nyu?" "_Coat-hanger._"  
"Nyu?" "_Tampon."  
_"Nyu?" "_Wellington boot_."  
"Nyu?" "_TOILET. BRUSH."  
_"Nyu... _what-uh_?" "_SUGAR!!!! There... is... no... sugar... in... this... tea. Sugar- see?" _Angela made a sprinkling movement over her cup. "_You, army guy. Help me out here, you got sugar?" _she turned to Bando. He stared at her blankly for a moment, then turned around to ask for Konig with a slight laugh, the phrase "_He doesn't understand either!_" blaring behind him. Konig went back in after him to find the mess in front of him.  
"_I heard you, and no, we don't have any sugar."_ Konig said with a broad smile.  
"_I know, I checked._" Angela thought back to him. Konig's jaw hit the floor. "_Jesus, that was quick. From a woman who couldn't even sense us two hours ago..._" he replied in kind. "_Are you two trying to transmogrify yourselves into some sort of novelty act?"  
_Angela looked at Lucy for a moment. "It's for Bando's benefit" Lucy spoke properly. "He's had a crap day and he's missing Nana badly."  
"Nana? You know Nana?"  
"In a 'sister that annoys the piss out of you but you still get on' way. She's got Bando's car and until she finishes work we're not going anywhere."  
Konig could barely supress a groan. "Work? I hope she's got something nice and quiet to do, hopefully nothing like a..."  
"Radio hostess."  
"... oh, _cock_."

Bando returned to the room and set up the radio on the vacant couch, trying to tune Nana's station in. Lucy cleared the floor area so that Kurama could enter the room without tripping over the now-useless clutter. Slowly he made his way inside as Konig reached from behind the sofa to return him his proper crutches, Lucy and Angela crouching down besides Bando. Angela had no idea of what to expect as Lucy hadn't told her what they needed the radio for- she measured the looks on the faces of everybody around her as they watched with baited breath. After a frustrating period of time spent almost wrecking the tuner dial, Bando finally found the voice he'd been searching for by accident, near the end of her speech.

"_And if by any chance you're listening, Angela, please get in touch- we all need to know you're OK_."

Angela smiled, barely holding her nerves together.

* * *

"Shocking, Iori. That was too easy, I was almost satisfied killing you. Now my beautiful weapon will find those troublesome creatures and we can all look forward to developing a new breed of war machines to purify the world... Hmmm... why are you holding a pen in your cold, dead hand? Writing a will, perhaps? No matter..." 


	16. Flying out of the frying pan

**DISCLAIMER**: I only own Briarecht and Marvin in this chapter.

Marvin's direction of Nana, whilst truthful, conceals the reasoning behind it- yet without further instruction does he have any reason to deviate from Briarecht's reasoning? And does Iori Kakuzawa's final testament, whatever is written, provide him with clear instruction? 

* * *

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN**

* * *

Through fear of raising Nana's ire for the umpteenth time Kohta kept the Pulsar to a steady 30mph on the roads leading out of town, also due to uncertainty of any further police activity from the assault that afternoon. With the Bacardi leaving Mayu's system she wound down the rear window of the car to inhale some cool air for her head, while from the shotgun seat Nana tried to take her mind off the death of her unexpected collaborator by any means possible, but failed each time she tried to think of something.  
The day had left a huge mark on her mind, and even though things appeared to look on the up from that point her mind wrestled with her attitude towards Kakuzawa- they'd never met, and until under an hour ago they'd never even talked; to her the Director of the Taurus Research Institute was naught more than the name of the evil she'd been running from. Ignoring _that_ notion (a notion itself alien to Papa) the man she'd spoken to was a polite and – dare say – pleasant diplomat who asked a favour of her with equal pronunciation of reward and threat. Nana knew not whether he dined on _foie gras_ for dinner and devil-horns for breakfast, but she could certainly tell he'd gone well out of his way to make such a boast. 

Even on the slim chance of Taurus _not_ having the American she wouldn't put it past him to have concocted an elaborate ruse, taking advantage of the girl's disappearance to cast a fish out in hope that Nana's kindness would snare it- that possibility alone frightened Nana, as it would see her prime virtue being turned on her as sharp as a vector. That said, as much as Papa would have thought what Kakuzawa offered was unbelievable… stranger things had happened- such as the demon Lucy stealing her limbs, then mere weeks later saving her life; saving the life of the solider who wanted Lucy dead and trading her passion & soul with his; finding acceptance with the human race under the façade of a loudmouth… and finding her Papa alive after getting over the fact he'd died that one night three years prior.  
Whether the Director was dead or alive, Nana had two choices to make on how she could feel about him, and they hinged entirely on the status of Angela Hayes. She just _had_ to know. Producing her cellphone from her pocket she nervously held down Bando's speed dial number, waiting seconds to get a short tone- no signal available. She tried again… nothing. Again… still nothing. Four further times and her shoddy network coverage betrayed her. Frustrated, she pocketed the device again and stared out of the window towards the rolling countryside. With a clear road in front of him Kohta looked to his left and picked up on the bad vibes.  
"Something happened, didn't it?" Kohta asked.  
"Yeah. Nothing on the air at all, It's just…" Nana took yet another sigh before continuing- "Kakuzawa's dead, allegedly."  
"What?" Kohta braked slightly, shocked.  
"Someone called me from inside Taurus just before I made the speech. Apparently he'd sprung her from her cell a short while ago, and everything's kicked off from the inside. I think what happened at home today may just be the start of this, I… I… I just don't know what's going to happen at all, and I'm afraid. At least with that asshole in charge I knew who to look out for, it's just so… strange. And what's worse is until I see Hayes herself in front of me the whole thing's out of my hands."

"Don't feel too badly about him dying, Nana. He was trying to kill you for 4 years – not very hard, obviously – and even if you did what he asked, he knew where you worked so what's there to stop him from doing the same thing this jerk Briarecht's doing?"  
Nana took a long breath- "You're right. But… well… from the tone of his voice it's like finding out what I've been doing was something of a shock to his system, like it threw him completely, and it could've cost more than his focus. Even if he is the bastard that screwed Papa's life and family up I just don't like to see people get hurt, I never have done."  
"That's a good thing, Nana. Never forget that." – Kohta leaned over to stroke Nana on the head…  
"LOOK OUT!" she screamed. Kohta manically floored the brake pedal to stop just before a van in front of him. The driver in front beeped his horn, angrily driving into the distance. Nana's head fell forward just short of the dashboard to be met by an airbag, and she winced in pain clutching her skull.  
"My god! Nana, are you OK?" Kohta asked in fear, like he'd really done it this time.  
"It's not your fault, its'… I don't recognise that voice… I'll be damned." Nana broke out into a big smile.  
"It's her. That old fart actually kept his word!"  
Nana produced her cellphone once again to try to make contact with Bando. Excitedly she counted the rings on the phone before _finally_ getting through to hear his voice again.

"_Hello, hon_'?"  
"She's there, isn't she? Hayes is there!"  
"_Safe and sound. How far are you away?_"  
"If Kohta drives how I'd like him to drive, six hours." – Bando laughed – "About two miles, tops."  
"_Honey, I have some bad news…_"  
"(not now, please not now) what?"  
"… … … _We had to give her your new clothes, she was stark naked._"  
"DON'T SCARE ME LIKE THAT, YOU ASS!!!!!… I'm sorry, I didn't mean that, I mean… damn… I don't care as long as she's safe. We're on our way, love ya, mmmmm" Nana kissed him off.  
"_Is there more of that when you get back?_"  
Nana giggled. "You bet!" she exclaimed, hanging up. Kohta urged the jubilant Nana to calm herself down as they weren't out of this jam all the way yet, but he may as well have been speaking like her German tutor from the book- her feelings had swerved 180 degrees on account of that familiar headache from an unfamiliar source. Turning on the radio to see how things were going at the studio... she felt it again. In reaction she leaned her head out of the window and looked to the sky to see something falling.

---

Marvin stood on the helipad, dressed in an ill-fitting pair of tattered jeans contrasted with a crisp white shirt and imitation gold chain around his neck, observing the small chopper landing feet in front of him. About to board it he heard a voice panting behind him accompanied by swift movements. In annoyance he looked over his shoulder and saw his dance partner for the operation- a woman clad in fitted SAT gear-and-mask sporting a huge sniper rifle across her shoulder. On reaching her desired distance from him she adopted an attentive postion.  
"At ease. I told Mr. Briarecht I didn't need support." Marvin explained in a pained voice. "You'll give away my position the first chance you twist a muscle."  
"Shut up, you little brat." The solider retorted. "I've read your file. Your telepathy is too strong for you to control, as soon as you meet the required distance of 1.6km any monster in mind-shot will have more than enough opportunity to bolt for it. From 400 metres on top of that distance I can make the hit myself and you become expendable, so mind your manners."  
"I can control my mind perfectly, for you are still alive you grunt. All I have to do is extend my ar.."  
She cut him off by drawing a heavy pistol from her hip and squarely aiming it at his skull. "Try it, please."  
Marvin laughed back at her. "My apologies. Your name?"  
"Michelle Racao, Originally from Monte Carlo. The best hit money can buy. You're probably wondering why I don't go freelance, and the answer is that it's never impossible to blend even your name into the shadows."  
"That's a poor policy if I may say so. You'll want to dissolve into the shadows but leave your name as a searing burn. Anyway, it's time to leave."

Briarecht watched the two boarding the chopper from the Director's office with a thin smile on his face. Satisfied that it was underway he returned to the main desk, wrenched the intercom from Kakuzawa's splayed arm and pressed the button to get in touch with the security personnel-  
"Director Kakuzawa has resigned, effective immediately. Please bring all security footage of the Director's office to me, and radio the infirmary to collect one body."  
Depressing the button again he mused to himself once more about the pen in Kakuzawa's other cold hand. Going over the more frivolous possibilities in his mind he stopped at the most obvious- he knew that Briarecht would escape somehow, and perhaps he would either explain to the arriving SAT what had happened just before a returning Marvin would butcher them, or arrange a plan to stop Briarecht from succeeding in is plans. The only _real_ question that remained was how.  
Inside moments a knock was heard on the door and Albert answered it- both requests had been honoured, as nurses and a security officer awaited his instructions. Taking the DVDs of footage from the security he dismissed the officer and headed back to the desk whilst the nurses removed Iori's body and carried him out of the room. Shuffling through the cache of discs and finding the one pertaining to the past hour he inserted it into what was now his computer and loaded some editing software.

Playing through it he watched on- Iori holding what appeared to be a nondescript phone call in an even tone, no sound coming from the camera. He then watched himself bursting through the door to confront Iori, without his gun in his hand- instead jutting out of his trousers from the back. Briarecht could be seen angrily gesticulating at a laughing Kakuzawa before producing his gun and pointing it at him. Both men were silent for some time after this, as if Iori was merely waiting for the situation to turn to his advantage or otherwise stall out until he could talk some sort of deal. Before he got the chance Marvin approached silently from behind, pacing up to a few feet behind Albert but without seeing Iori seated in front of him. Marvin appeared to exhale behind him, thus betraying his position. Albert lowered the gun and placed his palm to his face, shaking his head. Suddenly, Briarecht motioned to dive to the right and Mavin speared a vector straight forward to catch him… instead, Briarecht hit the deck far too late for Marvin to cancel his attack- the vector sailed through thin air into Iori's chest, bursting it open. Clutching it he fell onto his keyboard as the other Diclonius shrank back in instant horror and regret. Briarecht leaped to his feet and booted Marvin across the room, pointing the un-fired gun at him with a huge shit-eating grin. With his head to the back of the camera Marvin pointed it towards the sky, wailing in defeat as Albert backed up onto the desk to check if Kakuzawa was dead- cocking his head he spotted a piece of paper in front of the keyboard and got back up to address Marvin. Circling him he beckoned Marvin to head straight for the telephone, whereupon the boy looked briefly at the dying man and picked up the receiver.

Clicking on the 'stop' button a satisfied Briarecht got to work with the software, selecting everything leading up to Marvin's entry of the room and erasing it, followed by cleaning everything that had happened after his retaliatory kicking of the boy; saving the far-shortened file onto the hard-drive and proceeding to write it over the entire disk he once-again grinned and shook his head. Not giving too much of a rat's ass whether or not the abridged version of events would exonerate him of the murder, even if he couldn't evade the SAT by indicting one of _them_ as the culprit at least he could get this place shut down- a regrettable occurrence, but if _he _couldn't have the next millennium of warfare in his palm, why should his so-called paymasters?  
Removing the disk from the computer he shut the workstation down and again reached for the intercom unit to request that the cleaner remove the last traces of Kakuzawa's existence from the office. He tried Ganso's extension several times and got no reply. Irritated but otherwise unconcerned he straightened his clothes up and started to leave the office before the telephone by the side of the computer rang urgently.

"What is it?"  
"_Sir! The helicopter has crashed!"_  
"WAS?! Where?"  
"_Just north of the town, Sir!"_  
---

The Pulsar bashed through a hedge into a field as Kohta floored the accelerator in pursuit of the vehicle making erratic movements in the sky, not caring about his admitted lack of finesse anymore he begged Mayu and Nana to grip onto the upholstery for life as he wrestled with the gear-stick and prayed the suspension would hold out for the next few moments. The car dodged several rocks and farming implements as it drew nearer to the chopper, with Kohta tracking its foreboding sways with the wind out through the driver's window. "Kohta, we need to keep the car in one piece! Without it we won't get her to Tokyo!" Nana barked at him.  
"Without it whoever's in that chopper is going to die alone!" he replied forcefully.  
Looking out through her own window Nana attempted to establish contact with the Diclonius she knew damn well was on the doomed vehicle.  
"_Can you hear me?_" she firmly asked through her mind.  
"_Yes_." The reply came.  
"_What's happening_?"  
"_Something blew up and the pilot's trying to keep it together. We might have to jump_."  
"_Any parachutes in there_?"  
"_Don't think so, I haven't looked... Shit! the console's just exploded!_"

Once more Kohta fearfully looked out of the window and spotted the helicopter suddenly take a death-dive, braked out of safety and ordered Nana to get out. Staring from the ground they made out two objects falling out of the side doors yards in front before the copter continued to descend; Nana looked on then opened her mouth in horror- "DAMN!" she screamed, dashing with desperation towards the plummeting passengers. Kohta followed for a few steps but returned to the car, knowing for certain they wouldn't make it in time to see them crash to their apparent deaths. "What's going on?" Mayu asked. Kohta didn't answer as he shifted the car back to first gear and slowly moved forward, waiting for a grim acknowledgement that the passengers had been killed in the drop. Bowing his head he knew that even with her seemingly supernatural abilities the notion of catching two people from a falling helicopter was _asking a bit much_.  
"She just had to try" was all Kohta said, sullen, as he approached the clearing, then stopped the car to stare through the windshield.

He looked on to see Nana staring at the sky… lowering somebody with her hands.

Sprinting from the car, gob-smacked, he beheld the passenger – a female – climb down from Nana's amazing grip, remove her mask and look at him.  
"YOU!" she shouted.  
"Never mind me, where's the other person?"  
"He's … oh Christ… Marvin? MARVIN?!?!?"

* * *

**Next**: To recover what pride was once lost, someone turns to truly desperate measures that could destroy everything on a single whim. 


	17. To scratch an itchy trigger

**DISCLAIMER:** The main characters are owned by GENCO, I own the rest, usual deal.

Has Marvin finally fled the clutches of Albert Briarecht, and if so will he live long enough to appreciate the true freedom he willingly traded in for a reason he's long forgotten?

* * *

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN**

* * *

Placing the phone back into his pocket Bando swanned back into the living quarters with the smile back on his face where it longed to be, and watched the three Diclonius entering in pleasant conversation, in particular the American- far from the husk he saw minutes earlier she appeared lively and cheerful with her good-natured speech appearing unforced and genuine, which – to be fair – was more than could be said for Lucy who struggled to keep up her apparent civility; often relying on short words that just happened to translate better into longer English phrases for Konig to feed Angela while Lucy tried desperately to steer clear of her own struggles.  
"Why'd you come all this way on a break?" Bando interjected, saving her embarrassment as Konig translated in kind.  
"_I needed to get a clear head and to get away from my parents, dad got hot about losing the Presidential election and all he ever did was whine about it and ignored my need to concentrate on my studies. He did suggest Denmark but I preferred Japan from seeing loads of old Samurai movies on TV. This place is cool but to be honest after the way things have gone I wish I'd agreed with him."_  
Konig finished, breathless whilst adding "_I don't blame you_" on the end, just before Bando's phone rang again. Recognising Nana's number he answered for the second time with his huge, honest grin.  
This time around the grin vanished. 

Panicked, Bando beckoned the trio to vacate the sofa, apparently with the furniture destined to become an operating bed for the second time that evening; he booted the door to the hotel's passageway clean open and followed suit with the front door, coming to a halt just outside to be met fearfully by utter silence. Looking in every direction he held the phone back to his ear to beg Nana on a swift update, getting cut off for his trouble. Cussing himself whilst keeping his ears and eyes open for an interminable amount of time he was finally greeted by the cacophony of screaming wheels from the east, and a car achieving a good four feet of flight over grass verges onto concrete, coming to a rest feet in front of a shocked Bando.  
Nana kicked open her door and opened the passenger's door on her side, beckoning the female 'assassin' to climb out and grab what appeared to be a person's leg. Taking the other leg in her plastic arms they painstakingly moved backwards until the owner of the legs was hauled smoothly from the rear of the car, Mayu providing the pushing force from the rear. As the collective passed Bando he took a quick glance at the quarry- an unconscious boy with green hair.  
"Darling, TALK TO ME!" Bando begged Nana as he followed them inside.  
Nana tried her damnedest to be brief-"Not long after I hung up on you I was shouted at again, this time from the skies. I saw a chopper falling from the sky and these two (**indicating**) falling out- I caught her but he landed on his side and blacked out. He's going to need hospital treatment for sure or he's gonna die."  
"'_Shout_' at you? Is he… oh crap" – Bando spotted the boy's horns – "Security at that place has sure gone south since I worked there!"  
"Didn't I tell you? ... Oh that's right, I didn't- Kakuzawa's dead." Nana replied to that.

Bando looked at her like the facts sailed right over his head for a moment, then shrugged is shoulders as if to say 'figures' before turning to Marvin. Shoving the onlookers out of the way he hauled the boy's jeans off in a swift movement and looked down his left side- plainly obvious to his keen eyes Marvin's femur was jutting out of the sides, somehow not having broken the skin but swelling his leg badly; tracing the line up Bando could also spot several ribs out of place, but that was where the damage appeared to stop.  
"It looks like it coulda been a lot worse", he began to judge. "Did anything break his fall?"  
"Not a chance", the girl spoke. "There wasn't a tree in plain view."  
"I guess he must have used his arms to stop his fall somewhat, but waited too late to deploy them- he still got mashed up bad. This is beyond my expertise and the Doc's, we've gotta get him back into town."  
Kurama could see Angela was having trouble keeping up so he briefly explained the last sentence. "_You can take him back, I don't mind staying for a while_" she offered up, Kurama echoing in Japanese back to Bando.

Nana shook her head- "_No chance, Briarecht's getting the roads blocked. We've got to get you out of here now!_"  
"_Wait a second! Your voice… you… you're that DJ! I heard what you said on the radio!" _Angela gushed.  
Nana smiled back at her for a moment, slightly embarrassed yet glad to see she appeared to be fine. Moving to the side of the living quarters to allow Bando more space to make Marvin as comfortable as possible Nana regarded Angela for a few moments- whilst appearing to be physically unhurt she looked tired and unfit and smelled worse. Bando felt the boy's temperature then left the room briefly, leaving him with the almost undivided attention of the gathered crowd. The cramped conditions didn't appear to worry the crowd of eight as much as Marvin's fate- whilst unconscious and quite obviously seriously injured he appeared to be sleeping and breathing easy, slumped on the sofa. Wiping her brow from the heat of the room Nana observed that the two people that appeared to show the most concern were Angela and the black-haired girl that accompanied him. "Did something happen between them?" the thought rang out in her head.  
"Kohta! Could you check how much petrol's left in the car?" she asked with urgency. Nodding, he left the room as Nana asked the throng to space out a little to allow a bit more air to circulate, Lucy taking Konig and Mayu into the adjoining room to comply. Bando returned to the room with a damp cloth and bowl of water, kneeling down to apply it to Marvin's forehead. He stirred a little but otherwise remained in slumber.

Nana beckoned Angela away from the scene for a brief spell to talk to her. "_Did they give you a rough treatment?_" she asked in a low voice, concerned. Angela started to speak but paused, shaking her head instead.  
"_Don't worry_" Nana continued, placing her prosthetic hand on her shoulder "_We'll get you home soon enough._"  
"_Yes… home. That'll be nice…__why's your hand so cold_?"  
"… _it's too long a story, and it's not as important anymore._"  
Their conversation was interrupted by a panicked voice from the couch- they looked on as Marvin sat bolt-upright with a yelp- stricken with heat in spite of the cloth on his forehead his gaze flew around in a panic but latched on a familiar sight just in front.

Angela looked right back at him, too afraid to respond.

---

"Fatalities?... answer me, dumbkopf, was anybody killed in that crash?"  
"_We found the pilot dead. The other one is missing but we have found car tracks in the field leading back out onto the road._"  
"Oh you cannot be serious… You're saying somebody got to him first?"  
"_Most likely, sir, and I doubt it was an ambulance._"  
"I want roadblocks out there NOW! He must be apprehended and brought back to me!"  
"_What about the American?_"  
"Forget her, the boy is far more dangerous! He must NOT leave! And I want his accomplice brought here as well!"  
"_Accomplice, sir? We were informed he was to travel by himself, sir."_  
"… … don't question me! just do it!"

Briarecht slammed the telephone down on its holder and pounded his fist onto the console, splattering Kakuzawa's blood over his shirt. Realising what he'd done he wiped himself down for its own sake and paced away from the computer. This was very bad- he'd lost his guaranteed insurance against arrest with the boy disappearing and he had no idea how far away the SAT was; he also had no idea if his own private security force would eventually act in co-operation with the authorities, and if not whether or not more chaos would be caused by an angry Marvin or an angrier shootout.  
Leaving the office out of its own need he stormed down the stairs, his raging mind dwelled on the last sentence by that ingrate, who was apparently unaware that Marvin was travelling with support. "Very well, if he won't willingly return…" he spoke to himself, following signs towards the infirmary. On reaching it he patiently swiped his identity card into the slot, to be met with an error message. He tried again, but to no avail. With his thin temper rapidly approaching its breaking point Briarecht began to bang on the doors, demanding entry to the ward. No reply came from the other side, just fearful looks from orderlies. Vexed, Albert thought for a second on what to do before glancing at the panelling underneath the access door. Remembering how Marvin escaped twice he clawed at the panel in a frenzy, gouging at solid metal without care for injuring himself. Chipping one of his fingernails and drawing blood from the quick he started putting his boots to the panel to cave it in, before one of the nurses inside relented and opened the door.  
Albert lurched into the room and grabbed her by the throat, squeezing his fingers on her tender skin as she retched and clawed at his muscular arm.  
"I AM IN CHARGE OF THIS FACILITY, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!!?" he roared. White as a sheet she nodded and he released her. Both of them gasped for air- her out of need, him out of desire to compose himself.

"Where's the woman you brought in? I need her!" he asked the nurses, but got no answers other than heads lowered in shame.  
"Is she dead? Did she die?" – still nothing. He noticed an open partition in the back of the infirmary to the operating theatre, and looked through it- he could see an object with red stains on the table. Bursting through the door to the back he left the orderlies behind him in shocked silence as he stood there, staring. The nurse he choked got up from the ground and made the mistake of slowly pacing forward to check on Albert. As she got to a short distance he swivelled around and hurled something large at her with a shrill cry, hitting her right in the face.  
She fell to the floor again and beheld the large clump in front of her eyes- an armoured vest with a flattened bullet in the centre, a fair trickle of blood staining the surrounding area. Suddenly the telephone rang inside the infirmary, and Briarecht walked back out to answer it in measured steps, shaking his head- it appeared that he'd calmed himself down for a short period before walking back out, even if the staff knew this was merely a thin veil that separated him from an apocalyptic cry before taking the call.

"_Sir! Multiple helicopters are approaching the facility from the north!"_ was all they heard before their assertion was proven correct.

---

Marvin returned her look without flinching at once as Angela flinched a thousand times in a second, deadlocked in a situation that hinged on whatever ran through Marvin's mind. Nana watched on - helpless on account of her limbs – whilst Lucy and Konig independently gauged whether or not they could interject should the situation turn violent, as even Lucy would be capable of successfully deploying her vectors from mere feet. The standoff was made worse by the increasing temperature of the room due to body heat, in spite of Nana's intention to improve the air quality, and the amount of sweat stained the air beyond many a person's tolerance.  
Eventually Angela made the first move- "_Twenty-two…_"  
The black-haired woman darted her eyes towards Angela and her ears immediately tore them back, attuned to the warping swirls of deployed vectors. Marvin hesitated, the only palatable reason being that he was waiting for her to deploy her own as if in defence. She didn't…but Lucy and Konig did, extending them slowly over Angela's shoulders. Marvin let his eyes wander between the three of them as he was in an undoubted position of power in spite of his injuries. Letting a smile creep on through, Marvin wondered aloud if any of them had the nuts to take him right there.  
"_It's just our instinct, right?_" Angela uttered caustically. Before Marvin could make any sort of response a black-clad figure thrust herself straight through the middle and looked the boy right between the eyes, mad as hell.

"STOP THIS NONSENSE AT ONCE, ALL OF YOU!" Arakawa yelled, and Marvin's grin immediately disappeared, shock setting in.  
Nana took advantage of the distraction by letting her right arm drop out of its socket- Marvin caught a glance of the falling limb and immediately swung his head towards her to grab a split-second bearing before shooting another vector out, this time with a definite fatal intent.  
Nana's two-fingered strike landed in Marvin's pineal gland as his shot landed mere millimetres from her throat, then vanished instantaneously. His hands raced towards his brain and he made a futile attempt to trigger more arms, to be met by stone stares from the entire collective. In failure his shocked look widened even further; shamefully looking around the place the boy crashed back onto the couch as Arakawa approached him.  
"Don't look at me! PLEASE, DON'T LOOK AT ME!" he shrieked, cupping his head in his arms. She reached a single arm forward to touch him on the cheek, and after a painful outburst Marvin eventually relented, showing his reddened eyes at this loving spectre above him.  
"He shot you… Miss… I don't un.. understand… he shot you and you fell…"  
"I know. The Director told me he was going to not long before I fed you. What happened?"  
"I was going to kill Briarecht but… I hit Kakuzawa by accident, and he took advantage."  
Arakawa gladly scooped his torso into her arms, letting him freely sob over her shoulder as if he was her child; he gripped her shoulders tightly as he wept and apologised, again humiliated by his own actions.

"That's why you called me, wasn't it?" Nana pressed him. "He made you ask me where we were going."  
"Yes, and he sent me to bring Hayes back. Kakuzawa knew he was going to die so he left me a note, telling me to get away as best I could… I had no idea he'd help Miss Arakawa to go with me and I thank him for it."  
"Do you still have the note?" Kurama asked.  
"Yes, it's in my pants… nice trick, Number Seven" – he looked at Nana as Kurama leafed through his trousers – "I bet that's saved your life many times."  
"Indeed. And now it's saved yours." Nana replied with a warped smile, which Marvin returned. Konig and Lucy audibly let their tensions out and shook their heads as Arakawa laid Marvin back down; Lucy turned her back on the affair to carve a small hole in the window to allow more air into the room while Konig stretched a vector out towards Marvin's leg, asking him if he could re-locate his femur back into line with his hip- the boy agreed and then winced at length as Konig carefully motioned underneath his skin and grabbed the bone, gliding it as gently as possible down and then back into its socket. Checking his leg afterwards Marvin could move it a little better but the swelling remained.  
"Whoah, that's pretty cool if a little sick", Bando announced- "But he's still bleeding inside and his ribs are still mashed. All you've done is saved the doctors ten seconds. We need a plan to get him back into town and Angela into Tokyo. Any ideas?"

Nana raised her other hand with a definite grin.

---

Three army helicopters landed on the crowded helipad at the facility, emptying a score of troops surrounding the main entranceway. A few of the rear markers approached the rear-most vehicle as if to guard it, and after a brief pause they carefully marched inside. Approaching the front desk one of the troopers produced paperwork and demanded the whereabouts of Albert Briarecht. To which the frightened receptionist merely pointed in the direction of the Director's office. The whole column calmly proceeded down the corridors with crisp marching and complete silence.

Briarecht watched this from a monitor in his office, sweat pouring from his bald dome in tides. He was completely bankrupt for ideas at this point and even though he'd gone a short length to explain that it wasn't his hand that killed Kakuzawa he would most certainly take some 'credit' for it. As for explaining about the experiments he could only go through second-hand knowledge that he'd attained on his whistle-stop tour that morning, and as for the _four_ missing experiments what could he say? The number of course would increase to five once the troops would find the secret chamber in Kurama's office, and although Briarecht could lie and say he had no knowledge of the chamber's existence he knew damn well it was there- that was his entire pretext to wrest control from Kakuzawa in the first place, as neatly and bloodlessly as possible. As the law of Murphy dictated the day was neither neat nor bloodless, and it was painfully obvious that Albert was never truly in control.  
As he looked on a spark inside his mind came up with the only possible alternative asides complete surrender, one he wouldn't have thought of if he ever considered himself sane and rational. Leaping from his seat he dashed from the office and – to his fortune – hit an elevator that just happened to be on the office floor. Making the short trip a few floors down he exited the lift and immediately heard footsteps from the approaching corridor. Panicking he looked to his left down the stairs and sprinted down, hitting the deck after a flight or two.  
Praying he wouldn't be spotted he observed the short columns moving up the stairwell towards the office. Slowly he crawled back up to the level they departed from and ran down the corridor. Taking twists and turns whilst looking over his shoulder he reached the corner of the place he'd aimed towards.

The high-risk section.

* * *

**NEXT: **So many roads to travel, so little time. 


	18. Immediate farewell

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own the main characters of Elfen Lied, mine are my own etc.

* * *

**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN  
**

* * *

Out in the fields Nana walked up front with Angela following behind, Bando carrying Marvin piggy-back over his shoulders. They walked towards a fork in the road far enough from the hotel to avoid a direct trace to Lucy, agreeing that it was risky enough to present one or two of Taurus' immediate goals but to keep all three together would be folly. Although Angela was still getting used to wading in Doug's boots she was far more confident of the situation than a while ago; the same couldn't be said for Marvin – as happy as he was that his late master had gone to the trouble of freeing him and his friend in the moments before Briarecht's confrontation he felt mad at himself for letting his temper get the better of him several times that day, costing dignity and much more. He knew damn well that if it were not for the intervention of his carer it could have cost a lot more than one life- it was his natural instinct, and contrary to what he told Angela back in the facility he was taking it _very _badly… and on top of that Bando's rough-handling of him on his shoulders along the countryside did his tender ribs no favours.  
"So you guys have been friends for some time?" he asked Nana, trying to take his mind off the rising pain.  
"Yeah, we got together about a year and a half ago but we've known each other since I was let out of the facility. We weren't always on good terms, but I did him a favour or two and he did me a few more."  
"But how does he keep you in check? How does he stop you from going crazy?"  
"I have my ways, young man" Bando interrupted with a smile. "I wonder if you have a similar arrangement with your woman back there?"  
Marvin became annoyed. "Cut it out! It isn't like that… I mean… I thought she was dead, I saw her get shot." He started to break down again, his voice quivered. 

Bando apologised- "I'm sorry kid, I was just messing with you. Me and Nana… it's fairer to say we stop _each other_ from going crazy unless it's just us together. Things have been a bit tough on her lately and… all we need is to get through tonight and it's all cool."  
Nana laughed- "It's been a long night so far, and it's not gonna shorten until we get on the road. You got any plans, Number… hey" Nana stopped for a moment. "How _did_ you know I was Number Seven?"  
"You're something of a legend back in the lab" Marvin replied cheerfully. "Most of the other kids don't know who you are but the staffers remember the one Diclonius that never raised a vector against a human being, who was worth Doctor Kurama almost killing himself to set free in defiance of the 'evil' Director. I wonder if his legend lives up as well as yours."  
Nana had to ask: "Speaking of that man, Marvin, Can I ask you something? What made Kakuzawa let you go in the first place, and what's happened to him in the last 4 years? He's not the same guy Papa told me about, surely?"  
"All I know is that he told me Mr. Briarecht was gonna use me as a weapon to wipe out all the ordinary people in the world, and the Director said he didn't want me to do that."  
"You believe he actually _told the truth_?"  
"I guess so."  
"Dang. _Something_ happened to him. No idea if Papa could know what."  
"Papa?"  
"Doctor Kurama… hehe."  
"WHAT? He's your _dad_?" Marvin asked, amazed.  
Nana regretfully shook her head. "I never knew my real dad… but if by some strange fluke he was I'd be honoured. Either way I'm proud as hell of him."  
"I see… about Miss Arakawa… I don't know what she's going to do but once I'm fixed I'm going back home to Osaka, I've had my fill of this chaos. If she'd like to come… I'd love it. You're right, sir" – Marvin addressed Bando - "All we need to do is get through tonight."

-

After a good 15 minutes into the night they arrived at the bushes opposite the field where the helicopter crashed and ducked behind the thick scrub- a solitary police car stood before the tell-tale hole in the gate.  
"Aaaaand we're good" Bando whispered to Nana whilst laying Marvin carefully on the ground. "Did you call your pal at work?"  
"Not yet, just about to" she stated, producing her cellphone and checking the area to see if their cover would last. Getting a dial-tone first time around she made the call-  
"Hiro, you there? Did you get away well enough… you sent Horace?!? You _know_ his wife's in labour, as if she isn't gonna be pissed enough that he came back tonight, why couldn't _you_ do it?… What do you mean, more info's come in? about what?... never mind, Horace is already here, tell me later. There's a 1.5 of JD in it for you, love ya, bye… … gaah, apparently something else has come up in the news that he couldn't skip. I guess it couldn't be helped."

After keeping their eyes trained in every plausible direction a cream-coloured Volkswagen eventually approached from an east road and stopped a few yards down. Without exposing his nervousness to the awaiting policeman Horace glanced past to see a brief flash of a small light from the topiary to the side, nodding his head in acknowledgment.  
Nana dialed another number, momentarily exhaling, and said two words- "We're on", and hung straight up.  
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Marvin asked from the ground.  
"It's the only thing we can do and the last thing they'd suspect. Anyway, screw it- the ball's rolling. Keep your ears closed, both of you."  
"Nana!" Bando sharply whispered towards her.  
"What?" she replied, turning her face to his. He closed his eyes and planted his lips on hers for two seconds, savouring their texture and taste.  
"I hope that's not the last time we can do that" Bando whispered with a grin. She replied by giving him the same treatment for twice the length while reaching a hand of hers back up to his head, smoothing his coarse hair down. "_That won't be the last time either, you douche_" she said with total confidence.

Horace's VW started up again and passed the cruiser at a leisurely pace, gentle music playing through the windows providing a slight distraction for the bored constable, awaiting further instruction from his superior. The music was interrupted by a shrill scream from tires just west. With horror Horace regarded a dark brown car jack-knifing towards him, spinning out of control. Instinctively the big man covered his head in his arms and braced for an impact sure to deprive his soon-to-be-born child of a loving father.  
The Pulsar stopped just forward, mere feet from disaster.  
Horace, shocked that nothing had happened, got out from the car with thunder in his eyes. Menacingly wrenching his door open he marched towards the offending car, and upon reaching it he stopped dead in his tracks.  
His look softened as he laid his big eyes on a black-haired young woman scared out of her wits. "Hey, baby, you okay?" he asked her.  
"Omygod.. I… I'm… I'm so sorry, I lost control, I was driving along, I just… sorry, I'm so sorry" she squealed, gesticulating with hands in spasm. "Did I… did I hit you?"  
"I don't think so, honey, I'll take a look… naah, you hit nothing but brakes there. You oughta be more careful out at this time of night, you know that?"  
"I guess I.. I should, haha… I… I'm going to step outside, I need some air."  
"That's cool, that's cool."  
Arakawa got out of the Pulsar, leaving the key in the ignition, and nervously walked over to the north side of the road while staring at the ground in a state of near shock. Horace gently lumbered over to comfort her and make sure she got her nerves down. The accident did no damage to the vehicles but succeeded in attracting the attention of the policeman, ignoring his objective merely to maintain the peace.

"Go!" Nana urgenty shouted under breath, as Bando hauled Marvin onto his shoulders once again. The collective urgently walked towards the cars while Horace kept the copper's attention away from the vehicles, and once reaching the VW Bando eased the rear door open and laid Marvin on the seats. Once satisfied he directed Angela to get in the back and lay on the floor, then joined Nana in rushing towards the Pulsar and hitting the decks inside.  
"It's alright, Officer, the lady's just had a shock, that's all." Horace cooed at the policeman. "What caused the swerve?" he asked impatiently, as if something else was on his mind.  
Arakawa offered an explanation- "I heard a bang in my hood and I saw him approach and, like, I broke too late and lost control, I kinda turned my wheels to stop the, um, forward motion."  
"Not up on your driving, huh?" Horace chided her with a grin. "Lemme check your hood, can I?"  
She nodded and he calmly walked up to the Pulsar and opened the hood with little effort. Having a quick look he replaced the lid and returned to give his expert analysis.  
"Nothing wrong that I can see. I know a garage about 5 minutes down south, can I drive you there and pick up a tow truck, miss?" he asked her. She seemed to agree, but the officer protested about what to do with the other car.

"Do you mind looking after it? We ain't gonna be more than 10-15 minutes… thanks a lot sir, much appreciated" Horace greeted the cop with an enormous smile before he even had the chance to refuse. Arm-in-arm he escorted Arakawa to his car and coolly reversed it a few yards, turned down south and drove off. The policeman scratched his head and took a look at the car for himself. Satisfied that it was in otherwise-good condition he stood by, waiting patiently but in protest whilst playing with his fingernails.  
"Move, you ass, for god's sake please move!" Nana cussed under her breath. Bando shushed her angrily as they both begged in their minds that they wouldn't have to forcibly remove the policeman from the equation. They'd stayed on the right side of the law, granted, but if the cop had spotted them at best he could have nailed them for carjackers, and at worst put two and two together and linked them to the helicopter crash.  
Suddenly the radio burst to life from the police car, and in compliance he finally left the Pulsar in his wake to answer the furious call.

"It's nothing sir, there was a minor traffic confrontation I just had to settle… negative, nothing to do with the missing person Mr. Briarecht informed us of, I repeat nothing to do with… WAIT… One of the cars has just sped past behind me, the driver had abandoned it, it may have been jacked, repeat, may have been stolen… direction? Heading eastward, the only major road in that direction goes toward Tokyo, I repeat- towards Tokyo. Instructions?"

---

Feet before the gate to the high-risk experiment rooms and the guard dozing away in front of it, Briarecht collected his breath and slowed his heart down, knowing that this was his absolute final roll of the dice having lost confidence in the local authorities in dealing with Marvin. He couldn't afford to assault a guard at least twice his size, and even then he wasn't aware how much the guard was aware of the giant mountain of hubris that day had been- anything more than 'things seem a bit bad' and he was toast for sure.  
Approaching as silently as possible he beheld the sleeping giant lost in a nice dream, in a posture that would make for an interesting painting with the backdrop of a nuclear holocaust a few feet behind the chair. Happening upon an idea that would hopefully preclude having to ask the man Albert tiptoed to the main control panels on either side of the gate, beholding a card slot on the left. Frantically searching his coat and trouser pockets he found a guest ID card in the left hip.  
Leaning over he placed it part of the way in, took a breath, then followed it through. Greeting this was a red light and a harsh, repeating buzz.  
"Guest IDs don't work" came the booming voice to Briarecht's side. "Your permanent card should be on the way tomorrow, we've already called the government."

"I… I wanted to observe the experiments here myself. My aide has been unavoidably detained, so I'll be monitoring them from here myself." Briarecht responded nervously but without anger.  
"I can't let you into the cages themselves, but you may observe the monitors from the lobby. I'll let you through."  
Yawning, the behemoth rose from the meagre chair and beckoned Albert to move to the side. Taking the ID card and tossing it to the side gingerly he entered his own into the slot, walked past him to the right and scanned his palm and eyeball in the walls. Clicks and whirrs signalled the opening gate and soon enough Briarecht was inside. Thanking the guard for his assistance earnestly he hurried down the corridor towards the tables in the central area.

"Ach, look at them, they're _adorable!_" he mused to himself. "Killing machines, unfettered by the burden of sanity. So many to choose from and so little time…"  
He took a swift look at each monitor in turn, staring at the pitiful creatures interred inside each chamber. Many heads were slumped, some out of sleep and others out of ennui or hopelessness. He could see that not all faces were covered in masks, and those that were not were contorted into sharp screams or scowls. At least two of them – Twenty Seven and Fifty – were taking their pain out on their metal casings with repeated clawing from their vectors, and it was not to his inconsiderable relief that Albert noticed that none of the monitors in the hallway had speakers.  
To him, those sounds were only for the ears of their intended victims.  
With a little deliberation Albert elected to go straight for Room 50 in bold steps, much calmer as he reckoned that all it would take is to flip one big switch and the tortured soul on the other end would finally have the blood she craved. He noticed the small service door to the side a few feet before the armoured doors and checked the handle- unlocked and unsecured; the designer evidently guessing that the ID check at the main gate would be enough for full access.

With his black heart beating like crazy Albert opened the door and made his way up a long flight of steps in the direction of a gantry overlooking Room 50's antechamber. Partially irritated that the blast doors he bypassed were only the exterior security to the room he found the reason they were there- the _interior_ doors were almost four times the size, leading up into a ceiling obscured by pure darkness, looming over a chamber a good 50,000 square feet large. Cameras and guns were studiously trained on the centre of the only thing separating the godlike creature inside and those foolhardy enough to approach, and Briarecht's keen eyes could see there was not a spot of dust on any of the equipment- they were well-maintained and tested, waiting for the few occasions Number Fifty would taste fresh air and consider more.  
More worrying to Briarecht, however, was the console by the window; notably the twin key-slots on the left-hand & right-hand sides. A deflated Albert realised that he couldn't open the chamber by himself, thus ruining his split-second idea of a swift massacre of the arresting officers who'd have even less difficulty breaching the secured areas. Pounding his fist on the console he cussed his inability to reach out and touch playthings just out of his reach-  
"Now I feel like Sisyphus, ever doomed to reach out for the grapes but sucking in water each time."  
A menacing voice rang out from overhead speakers- "_hahaha… that was Tantalus, dumbass. Sisyphus was forced to roll a rock up a hill._"

"What?... How did you know what I said?" Briarecht asked, shocked.  
"_Your fist is on the intercom button, retard. Save yourself the humiliation and press it again._"  
Briarecht looked down and saw that the taunting voice inside was quite correct- he'd hammered the button well into the console, certainly far enough to jam. Fifty spoke up again: "_Where's the chief?_"  
"That useless bastard's dead. I'm letting you go so that you can avenge his death and wreak havoc on my enemies. Surely your mind can grasp that concept."  
Fifty bellowed a laugh. "_You're not letting me go at all, and even if you could I'm disinclined to honour your request._"  
"Excuse me?" Briarecht replied, offended.  
"_If you __must__ know my name's Asuka and my Dad was an architect who designed the institute. There's a twin lock on the console; that much I know for certain. You'll need two separate coded keys that are impossible to turn by one person unless that person has eight-foot arms or is a Diclonius. You're not a regular member of staff – I can tell that from your tone- so you'll need two lackeys to do that for you. I can also tell from your breathing that you came here in extreme haste, meaning you're not supposed to be here and thus aren't going to __get__ that help. And given the way you address your 'loyal' subjects, I think I'm better off right where I am._"  
"BUT YOU'RE LOCKED UP LIKE A F&!ING DOG WAITING TO BE PUT TO SLEEP!"  
"_And meeting a pinhead like you makes me appreciate it a hell of a lot more. Oh, and one more thing- was it you that killed the old man?"_  
"Maybe."  
"_Just a word of advice-One probably knows, and if she ever gets out, you're screwed. Bye bye!_"

Briarecht hammered the button in and left in disgust, Asuka's following laughter chilling him to the bone. Uttering the C-word to himself he paced down the steps back to the control lobby and stopped just before opening the door, staring at the handle, shaking his head. That 'freak' was absolutely right, and if that was to be the case for the other nine subjects present he had truly run out of cards to play. In defeat he opened the door and turned to his left to march back down to the console and the exit.

"Albert! This is Yutaka Mishima, come here at once!"

Briarecht groaned at the voice he'd ran from months prior but saw no alternative but to heed it. Refusing to yield to every instinct in his mind to weep he took painful steps towards his captors. He saw his superior officer, a thin gentleman in a sharp grey suit and spiked black hair, sat on the wooden desk between a dozen crack troops, lightly tapping his feet without particular care for its rhythm, his cool eyes locked onto Albert's with regular blinks.  
Coming six feet from Mishima Albert stopped and bowed his head out of respect, almost as if to congratulate him- he saw no reason not to, not even defiant hatred would help him out of his predicament.  
"We know you had the American and that you tried to screw her." Mishima spoke flatly.  
"If I'd know about the situation…" Albert bleated in protest, certainly not meaning it earnestly.  
"The reason you're not in handcuffs on the floor is that we didn't know the situation either until minutes ago, and even now details are still coming in."  
"Excuse me, sir?"

"We need to find her immediately. Her parents are dead.."

* * *

**Author's note:** There won't be a new chapter for a few weeks now as I'm on holiday until September 15th; hopefully I'll get another one ready between the 22nd and 29th. Enjoy! 


	19. In the rain I hear a scream

**DISCLAIMER: **Main EL characters are owned by Genco etc.

Sorry for the lateness, it's been over a month since my holiday but I've had a silly amount of TV to catch up on, and I've also had some trouble with ideas… hopefully this won't make you cringe as much as #17 does, sorry.

* * *

**CHAPTER NINETEEN**

* * *

'Bricking it' would be an understatement when describing Albert Briarecht's present state of mind as he flew, alone, back to the mainland helipad. Taking a last look at the castle-like facility out of a port-side window he knew that insolent little wretch shackled in Room 50 really _was_ better off right where she chose to be; regardless of the success or failure of his mission to reclaim Angela Hayes he figured he'd be hauled up into a legal tsunami that would hit him up for the works: misappropriation, attempted rape, pre-meditated murder. Witnesses weren't forthcoming as they wouldn't dare approach Number Fifty for questioning and both Twenty-Two and his 'mother' had escaped; all they had to go on were the cooked books from before he escaped weeks ago… and the security footage he'd doctored that any monkey in a modern Forensics Squad can re-assemble in minutes. Too many swords dangling over Briarecht's head, and no guarantee that Mishima wouldn't cut the hairs holding them even if he'd apprehended all of the parties involved alive and talkative. This charade was a stay of execution in every sense, and all he had to go on – although a major point – was a phone call made under duress that implicated a local personality in Hayes' escape. As befitting as it was to Briarecht's 'take as many with you on the way down' motif any alternative that offered his survival would be welcomed with open arms. As for friends, he had only two he could count on- his good old tag team partners Lambert and Butler in his shirt pocket, on whom he called to his aid to calm his nerves in spite of the pilot's protests. 

The brevity of the journey back to Kamakura was welcome to Briarecht, as was the lone police car waiting to take him to the main station in town so he could put out an area-wide alert as swift as possible. In the car he engaged driver in a brief chat, and was informed that the 'notorious' Blu Sevens had done a large wedge of the work for him by broadcasting Hayes' existence to the station's largest audience- a sizeable percentage of the local public.

"Can I ask a question?" Albert asked the officer, who hummed an agreement. "Did that appeal air _before_ or _after_ the details of her parents came through?"  
"_It was on about eight-fifteen, and we only got news of the deaths from the US Embassy moments before; certainly not soon enough to nix the broadcast._"  
"Do you have a recording of the appeal?"  
"_We can obtain one from the studio._"  
"Do so, please. I will also need for the host to be interviewed as soon as possible. I'll speak more to your chief when we get to the station." Briarecht concluded the chat, betraying no inkling that he knew exactly where to go from there.

-

"_As you know, Mr. Briarecht, we appreciate your Institute's cooperation with the law and numerous charitable contributions over the last decade" – _the Chief of Police orated to a bored Albert_ – ", and in the relatively few cases of these … patients escaping from your watch we have taken extra-special care in handling them as you've made it clear time and again of their ever-present threat to the good people of Kamakura. What guarantees can you offer me that this'll be an exception_?"

Before he began Albert removed his glasses and cleaned them briefly, looking the sincere chief dead in the eyes whilst doing so. "In the case of Miss Hayes I can offer you no guarantee, but this Miss Sevens who broadcasted the appeal earlier tonight… I'm told she has no criminal record…"  
"_Yes, that is right. But we also have no formal ID of her…"_  
"That's immaterial at the moment. From the research we have done we are unsure of her origins but she is not thought to be especially dangerous. On the contrary she has made several key public appearances in her capacities, and although we've had run-ins we regard her as of good character. She is _not_ to be considered a suspect or an accessory unless we have solid evidence or she gives us reason to believe as such. This is to be an informal interview of her relationship with the missing girl. As for that girl herself we want all major highways shut off and we want search parties in the surrounding countryside. She is likely to be highly distressed and must be brought in unhurt if possible, or taken down with non-lethal methods unless under the direst circumstances."

The chief pointedly exhaled, Briarecht's announced lack of reassurances irking him. Jotting down details of what to do onto a notepad the nib on his pencil broke, flying off onto Briarecht's shirt. Swearing under his breath the chief resumed his note-taking with a biro and continued to speak- "_We'll do our very best, Mr. Briarecht. You are also aware of the two other alerts you've placed with us, regarding the old case with the serial killer you refer to as 'Lucy', and the helicopter crash that occurred out in the sticks an hour or so ago. These are both to be factors, yes?"_  
Before Briarecht could answer the telephone rang on the chief's desk. Picking it up he listened intently for a brief second, then thrust the handset straight at Briarecht, who held it to his ears. His face lit up like a candle on hearing the patrolman on the other end.

"I need a squad car and keys, immediately. They're bolting for Tokyo! Oh, and assume the latter, definitely- we've heard nothing from the survivors. And thank you very much for getting a squad car to the scene so swiftly, we greatly appreciate the effort you're putting in. As for Lucy… if she's still in the area after 4 years on the lam all bets are off, we've no idea of her whereabouts or intentions."

---

"I'm telling you, Lucy, you have to get that ankle looked at… you're tickling now, stop it please!" Kurama squealed from the couch, once again, as Lucy tended to his back some more with her vectors.  
"Quiet, you, I'm trying to be as light as possible! You should talk about wounds, with your back in this state… What's up with dinner, Kohta?"  
"Twelve minutes, Lucy!" he called from the other room. "Whatever Nana sees in this guy, he does keep his places well stocked."

"It's all about the… um… magnetism, that's it." Konig interjected while helping out with the cooking. "Bando's such a _gorilla_, and I've been near the war zone by accident enough…" He was interrupted by a yell from the couch- "sorry, Kensuke, I kinda blurted that out."  
Lucy noticed Kurama bury himself in a pillow upon the last sentence, quickly covering his ears and screeching a muffled 'GET OUT OF MY HEAD'. Ruffling his hair she laughed and resumed her massage, but he politely asked her to stop as it wasn't helping things at all. He got up into a seated position and stared down at the floor in a mix of embarrassment, disbelief and confusion.  
"I understand", Lucy spoke, "We're both in the same boat"  
"No, we're not, Lucy, that's the thing" Kurama retorted as he wiped his eyes.

"Twelve months ago I had no idea if she was alive or dead or safe or scared. For the last year I've been afraid for her safety but on hearing that she'd done so well I've had to learn to show some faith in her judgement, it's not easy going to sleep seeing her as a child then waking up to see her as a woman. Now I found out she's got a boyfriend – _that man_ of all people – and … urrrrrrgh… " – he covered his face in his hands – " I can't even put it into words."  
"Is it… as if Mariko may have been in the same position if she'd lived?"  
Kurama, incensed, got right into Lucy's face for a split second and she jerked back with a yelp. In the same way that earlier he'd hit the one nerve inside her that should never be caressed she'd returned fire with the best intentions. Clenching his fists by his side his steely gaze met Lucy's, and for perhaps the first time since the incident in the warehouse he'd seen her on the back foot, visibly shaken.

"… … no, things wouldn't have happened like that. But that's the way I feel." Kurama spoke a father's words without anger.  
"Can I have a moment alone, please?" Lucy spoke aloud to Kohta and Konig. Nodding, they both returned to their cooking while Lucy sat down next to Kurama.  
"I'm going to tell you what I think- I don't like that man one bit even though he amuses me in the way he acts. He's crude, foul, obnoxious and single-minded… at least he was like that four years ago. Something happened between the two of them and I have no damn idea what but it's changed them both. It's like they've exchanged parts of their personalities… but they're not corrupting, they're tempering. Have you heard much of Nana on the radio?"  
"Every night since last… aaah. I know what you're getting at." Kurama sunk back onto the couch. "It's like I was hearing Bando's words through Nana's voice."  
"It _used_ to be that simple, but it's struck a chord inside her. She never was an idiot in the first place but she's learned much more from him than she would have in college, especially with that plan she's attempting. I've no idea how the hell they're going to keep the American hidden until this all blows over… but I think that together they're getting back from Tokyo, one way or another. It… may take a day or two though…. OH CRAP!" Lucy shouted, holding her palms to her skull in anguish.

"What? What's wrong?"  
"Yuka's back from England this weekend and there are dead soldiers at the house! How the hell are we… heh, sorry. It seems so trivial to bring that up..."  
Kurama smiled. "That's not trivial at all, we can't stay here forever even if it does work out… Doug?" – he faced Konig from the couch – "Doug, I need a favour from you. Their home was attacked earlier today and we need to be sure the police aren't causing too much fuss around the area. It's the… what's your address?"  
"Kaede Inn, Hillside. Should I show you the way, Konig"  
"Better not, you were at the scene. If there were survivors… I'll manage. It's about ninety minutes on foot, I'd say, I'd better get going."

"What about dinner?" a disappointed Kohta uttered. "I suck at cutting fries, they end up all skew-whiff!"  
"Do Jackets instead, they're healthier. And we've got tonnes of Musical Fruit in the cupboard."  
"Any Ramen in there? Beans hate me" Lucy growled as Kohta checked the pantry. After a few moments he produced a small shrink-wrapped package, waving it so that Lucy could see it. Her short nod was welcome as Kohta scrambled for a pot to cook the noodles while turning the oven on to cook the potatoes, before speaking to Konig as he was getting ready to leave- "Doug, you can borrow my shoes if you need them, you're still barefoot."  
"No thanks. I can walk on my vectors if needed, and if you have to leave here quickly…" he replied in parting, giving nods to Kurama and Lucy while shutting the doors behind him.

Kurama broke the silence moments later- "It feels like we're back in the green-room, waiting for the next act to come along. I don't feel comfortable with the situation, say nothing about the fibre we're about to scoff!"  
"I'm in favour of turning the radio back on, we might get more information on a police search for Angela"  
Lucy carried out her own wish, changing the dial so that Hiro's soul bootleg CD would play out at a safe level. The music did help somewhat as Kohta – at his busiest all day – was channelling his energy into preparing the food while Lucy traded awkward, nervous looks at Kurama. This wasn't the mental-tennis game she'd played with Hayes a while back – In spite of her bold advertisement of the new Nana she hadn't a clue what he was thinking; If he'd felt more confident that she'd succeed or more fearful that another circumstance could thwart her efforts it didn't show in his face. Their feelings towards each other – a lot of air-clearing accepted – were of no consequence until the next move was made.

A news bulletin cut up the music, and on hearing it their faces stood in shock.

---

Briarecht's police cruiser sped quickly on the road north out of the town followed by another carrying four regular officers; both cars went without sirens in an attempt to keep things low-key and without fuss until they caught up with the Pulsar, preferably before it reached Tokyo. For the first time in a couple of hours Briarecht smiled briefly when the caravan arrived at the helicopter crash site. Pulling up to the officer that witnessed the escape he noticed there were car tracks leading from the field.

"Mister Briarecht, Sir!" The officer greeted him. "Thank you for being so quick. They just flew past ten minutes ago. Is Tokyo their ultimate destination?  
"Seems that way. We'll take it from here… Those tracks are after the crash, ja?"  
"It looks like it, sir… there's two sets, one coming straight and another curving west."  
"That's where you're headed then."  
"But there's nothing due west of here except a hotel that went bust three years ago."  
"Could have been a hideout for the thieves… it's too much of a possibility to ignore. If it's all clear then head back. It's not likely the girl's still there but if she is, call in and do _nothing else_…" Briarecht pulled his car away eastward with his backup following. "Maybe I'm better off _with_ human beings after all" he muttered.

-

The Pulsar made its more leisurely way along the highway, around halfway to Tokyo; Nana sat up front with Bando at command behind the wheel, quite possibly in the best mood she'd been in all day… fast asleep with her head parked on his shoulder. Unsure how quickly they could keep the charade going Bando took his steel hand to working the radio, attempting to pick up the station.  
"Gaaaah, nothing. It's like you broadcast from a canning factory or something" he cursed, getting no response from her. Trying for other stations and eventually giving up he decided to play the CD instead, getting a barely-comprehensible "Idiot! Not _Corduroy! _the next one… zzzzzzzz" for his trouble.  
Bando looked at his love napping on her shoulder, and conceded that while it had been one hell of a day for her it wasn't exactly a walk in the park for him either. Although treasuring the passion they'd made over the last year-and-a-half and encountering the incredible fortune of a friendly face inside Taurus he wondered if the day could get any stranger- noodles and murder for breakfast, assault and verbal battery for lunch, and to top it all off meeting the woman he almost killed himself over and not breaking a single sweat in the process- what's more in front of him she acted a lot more mellow and passive than he knew her to be, and Nana became more irritable as the day progressed. And on top of all this it was now raining hard outside, making the journey more difficult. In response Bando eased off the accelerator pedal, bringing the car down to a 'crawling' 30mph.

Bando dwelled on the changes Nana had gone through since they'd been together, and although he knew she was smart - especially after their eye-opening first night together the day she saved his life - he'd never taken her for a tactician mainly because in the time they'd been together she didn't need to do any instinctive thinking until now- so by suggesting the obvious idea of having one car to Tokyo and another to Kamakura General be played _in reverse_ was a masterstroke… Nana and Bando could travel out of town without being too conspicuous on account of Nana's quasi-celebrity, and Marvin could get to hospital with the Yankee safely hidden and able to reach the authorities of her own free will… oh, and there was a good chance – going on Nana's words – her friend at the station could still get there in time to witness his wife giving birth. For some reason Bando smiled at that.

The car hit a slight bump in the middle of the road, sending the right-hand side of the car into the air a few inches, jolting Nana into semi-consciousness for a few seconds before forcing her head to land face-down in Bando's lap. Nana's resulting slur of "Honey, I'm not in the mood" made Bando blush a little, and as the rain came down harder he shook his head… then something went off in his brain. An idea. A silly little idea, but some absurd little embellishment that Nana would have come up with on the spur of the moment that ultimately would have been the crowning achievement. Bando gently braked the car and pulled over to the left side of the road, over some bush into some trees. Unfastening his safety belt and Nana's he placed both hands on her shoulders, gently shaking her out of her (admittedly deserved) slumber.

"Bando… wh…what's going on, are we there yet?"  
"No, toots, I've got an idea."  
"What… what is it?"  
"We're going to make love. Right now."

-

Around eight minutes later Briarecht's two-car pursuit came close to the area, themselves at a lesser pace on account of the worsening weather and still without sirens blaring. Albert, in the lead car, wiped his brow mainly due to the woefully inadequate air-conditioning inside the cruiser but also with a fair degree of nerves involved. Rifling through an opened glove compartment he gratefully found a bottle of spring water, from which he noisily gulped while winding down his window to let the hot air disappear.  
From his own window he could make little out other than the driving rain and some trees reflecting what little light the moon provided through cracks… and a car in the treeline moving up and down rapidly.  
"_Mein Gott!... _is that the car?" he shrieked into the radio unit.  
"_I don't know, sir- the officer at the crash site didn't describe it._"  
"HE DIDN'T DESCRIBE THE CAR?!?!!"  
"_No, sir. With respect I think an impromptu screw would be the last thing on their minds right now._"  
Albert banged his fists _very_ hard on the dashboard at the insubordination presented to him. "But we can't rule it out… Get that asshole on the radio right now and describe the car, if that was it then we're in front of them!"

-

Nana, being held in Bando's hands, looked like she was enjoying herself heartily rocking herself stupid along with holding the four corners of the Pulsar and shaking it in tune to some bawdy music playing from inside.  
"Hey, the suspension! Don't overdo it, it won't look believable" Bando protested while she giggled along.  
"Only one problem left to deal with" she replied joyously. "Now they're probably in front of us, if they know we're pulling a fast one they'll have a roadblock up in no time. You were aware of this possibility, yes? Hence although I haven't had this much fun in a while I fail to see how practical your plan is."  
"I'm not sure we can make it all the way to Tokyo."  
"WHAT?"  
"I filled the tank three days ago and your friend was a little less than frugal with the petrol this evening. I don't like the look of this weather either, if it becomes really nasty keeping our speed up is out of the question."

Nana stopped rocking the car and 'stood' on her vectors, looking Bando in the face. "You wanna know what I think?"  
"What?"  
"You're getting _old_. If we'd have done this when I hooked up with you you'd have floored that pedal."

Bando stared right back into Nana's eyes, removing his sunglasses.  
"_Honey, you've just done the dumbest thing._"

-

Five miles down the road, the inevitable happened. The two police cars sealed the road off side by side, holding a large amount of southwest-bound traffic behind them. Albert had a single officer up front of him, idly bearing a shotgun around the back of his neck. As Albert looked at his 'companion' he knew that wouldn't necessarily be enough if Angela decided to stand her ground, but as he was still carrying the hand-cannon that led Kakuzawa to his maker he could largely guarantee the mission would be successful.  
"_Mister Briarecht!_" the police radio burst alive inside his car, and Albert leaned inside to receive it.  
"Go ahead."  
"_The stolen car was a maroon-coloured '03 Nissan Pulsar, originally belonging to a woman with glasses in her mid-twenties._"  
A grin creeped onto Briarecht's face. The woman he'd shot at the Institute was alive and out for vengeance. "Repeat the colour again?"  
"_Maroon, sir_."  
"That's the car! We're ahead of them, ready and waiting. Where are you?"  
"_Almost at the hotel, sir. Orders?_"  
"Evidence, and arrest of any compatriots. Fine job so far, Officer. Out."  
Reaching into his shirt pocket Albert lit two more of his diminishing supply of smokes, passing one to the officer beside him before turning his attention to the officers from the other car-  
"Just so you all need to know… Hayes' safe apprehension is paramount. Anybody else with her will be subject to questioning by the American Federal Bureau of Investigation, so their safety must be guaranteed as well… what's that?"

Without paying too much attention while orating to the policemen Briarecht noticed a faint glow growing rapidly in the distance, an infernal chorus in accompaniment inside his ears, rising as the seconds passed. The cigarette fell from his mouth, unable to fulfil its duty.  
"SHOOT THE TYRES!!!!" he yelled, ducking behind one of the cars. Every officer present trained their shotguns forward, aimed at a downward angle towards the ground while the beast roared louder and louder towards them. Before long Briarecht produced his own handgun, certainly not aiming in kind- his intention was to take the driver out of the equation altogether.  
Bando and Nana ducked both their heads behind the dashboard as the police opened fire at them from afar.

The shotguns shredded the front tires of the Pulsar like cheese slices but the vehicle carried on unperturbed in its assault, bearing straight down on the amateurish roadblock. On emptying most of their loads the coppers hesitated before realising they wouldn't have a second chance, instinctively dashing for cover alongside Albert. With bald tires at the front screeching the Pulsar struck the rear of the forward cruiser, smashing it into a slow spin off to the right and sending the two policemen on that side diving barely to safety as it sailed over their heads.  
Having been brought to an unwilling stop the Pulsar lurched into life again but could not gather speed in enough time as the officers on the left side of the road moved in to take out the rear wheels, not wasting a single shot. Squealing forward a few yards the car relented, braking and sliding along the damp road before gently spinning out a short distance ahead.

Albert lead a victorious march of officers, guns drawn, up to the car resting in the middle of the road. Calling them to stop and aim at either side.  
"OUT OF THE CAR, HANDS OUTSTRETCHED!" the redundant cry came from one of the officers, to which Nana and Bando silently complied, standing either side of the dead car. Briarecht stood forward, aiming his gun for a moment at their faces in turn before emptying the clip into the lock of the trunk. A mocking silence greeted him from inside as the door opened of its own volition. A scowl appeared on his face as he re-loaded a clip into the pistol, approaching Nana with his arm extended and primed to kill.  
She repaid his mistake by grasping his throat and arm, twisting him 180 degrees around. For good measure she took another vector to squeeze his fingers on the trigger, causing him to fire blindly at the pack of officers without hitting any, causing them all to duck around. Releasing her grip instantly she kicked him to his knees, standing still in front of Briarecht.

Nana talked full of fire- "You're not getting her back, at all. She'll go back home to her loving parents and you're not going to have a say in that at all, you hear me?"  
Albert, on his knees, began to whimper... before emitting a belly-laugh.  
"Do you think this is funny, you bastard?" she addressed the clown on the floor.  
"…. _Ficken _hysterical!"

Briarecht looked Nana with honest tears in his eyes.  
"Her loving parents are dead… haha… killed… hahaha… she killed them. ANGELA KILLED THEM!!! HAHAHAHAHA…."


	20. The sickening feeling

**DISCLAIMER**: The major characters of EL are property of GENCO, the OCs are mine etc.

No… please, don't let it be true, just no…. please, no.

* * *

**CHAPTER TWENTY**

* * *

Several minutes earlier Horace arrived at the hospital, cool as a cucumber. After helping Arakawa climb out with Marvin in her arms he stuck his head in the back door of the VW to usher Angela from the car, but she shook her head. 

"_Ain't you coming?"_  
"_Nope, I need some __good__ sleep."_  
"_There's a blanket under the seat, cover yourself up. I'll be back in two hours._"  
"_Thank you so much._"

Angela shut the door from the inside, reaching for the blanket and slinking back onto the passenger's couch, covering herself from head to toe. Horace & company burst through the rear door of the hospital and zig-zagged through winding corridors at a brisk pace, met by several confused stares and murmurs from outpatients and doctors alike. Still suffering from his fall Marvin let his gaze trail horizontally at the bemused public, trying to get a bead on individual faces; although he'd had to put up with the feelings of his school friends & acquaintances back in Osaka he'd never imagined that he come across such trepidation that he could in person. Once again he felt like the "weird kid" but now he was in no mood to explain that he was a passive, obedient boy; even if he was it would be more prudent to let his mawkishness take a back-seat to the driving need to help Angela escape from Briarecht.

Eventually they reached the front reception of the Accident & Emergency department, luckily barely occupied during midweek.  
"Can you sit well?" Arakawa asked Marvin. On seeing him nod she gently parked him onto an empty wooden chair next to a bank clerk, sat there leaning his shoulder forward at an awkward angle. As Horace and Arakawa temporarily abandoned him to click the receptionist out of her trance and demand help Marvin attempted to make the best of his uncomfortable seat, curling up to contract his damaged side. The clerk's nervous eyes settled on Marvin's blood-stained shirt before being drawn in fear to his face. Marvin's tired stare greeted this, barely conveying either an emotion or a desire to express such.

"D's that hurt?" he mumbled.  
"S…sorry?" came the reply.  
"Your shoulder's out of its socket, I can pop it back in two seconds if y'like, I think I can just about manage that…"  
"If… If it's all the same to you I'll leave it to the pros… No offence…" the clerk rose from his seat, sweating profusely. Advancing towards the desk he overheard the conversation: in spite of their protests the nurse appeared to flat-out refuse to treat Marvin, and despite several interjections to hurry up and find a doctor for him (so that the clerk himself could eventually be seen to) the Nurse refused to budge. In disgust the clerk shuffled his feet and looked down to the floor before returning to his chair, not before looking at Marvin sympathetically. With the concept of going home not on his mind the clerk – in spite of his anxiety – entered in some conversation with the boy.  
"What happened to you?"  
"Fell out of a chopper at thirty feet" Marvin replied with as much coherence as possible. "You?"  
"I just washed my floor out and slipped on the soap, knocking my shoulder out. My stupid fault."  
"… same 'ere, I guess. Sure you don't want me to put it back in for you? That stupid receptionist is holding you up."  
"No no no, don't trouble yourself, I… hey… what are you doing? Please let me go… let me… ACK!"

The trio at the desk spun around on hearing the disgusting crunch behind them to see the clerk slump on his chair, clutching his shoulder as tight as possible while gnawing his teeth in apparent agony. Opening his eyes before their stunned looks he panted hard before looking at Marvin's dozy leer. Giving in to grotesque curiosity he dared to circle the hitherto-offending joint forwards and backwards.  
No problems.  
"Th… that's… that's… I can move it, that's great… how did… how did you" he began to ask Marvin before staring back at the horns. "You know what, it really doesn't matter hehe, thanks very much, that's great, I just remembered I gotta be somewhere else right now, thanks again, sorry, I just, hehe… bye!" he yelled in panic over his shoulder on the way out of the hospital.  
"See? He's a nice boy!" Horace reinforced his point to the amazed receptionist, who put her palms to her head before finally getting to the point:  
"Listen, I'm sure he _is _a very nice boy, sir, and while the gentleman who's just left seems to be grateful for what he's just done right now the Police has got an alert out for anyone with horns!"  
"What sort of alert?"  
"Some horn-head girl's wanted for murder, fairly big stuff- roadblocks, stop-searches, the whole…"  
"Murder?!?" Marvin yelped in pain. "I'd have… no. Oh, no."

Suddenly footsteps were heard escalating towards the hospital, and on stopping the clerk re-entered the building, wiping his brow.  
"Excuse me, is that your Beetle in the car-park?"  
"Yeah, why?" Marvin asked with urgency.  
"You left one of the rear doors open."

---

Hand-in-hand running from a hail of gunfire Nana gripped Angela's arm as tight as possible away from Briarecht's crack assault squad, keeping a deathly stare in front at all times while only paying grim attention to the steady glare of jeep headlights from behind. Their vectors were deflecting most of the automatic gunfire but the whistling sounds of stray bullets struck panic into Nana second by second.  
"_Keep up, Angela!_" she yelled back without turning her head, feeling the grip tighten on her false hand.  
"_I AM KEEPING UP!"_ Angela screeched while barely avoiding a fatal trip, doing her best to maintain the focus on Nana's head and not the menacing convoy from the rear. With the pair breathing ragged they eventually came within sprinting distance of the American Embassy, salvation tantalisingly close.  
Nana's sweat-wracked face beheld the opening gates with the sentiment of a smile but not the form, and as they raced towards safety the gunfire suddenly stopped & the army vehicles behind them cut their engines. With an unearthly cry both Diclonii made it inside the front courtyard of the Embassy, under the watchful eyes of CCTV cameras trained on both the grounds and the surrounding streets full of Japanese military. Panting, Nana fell onto her knees and watched Angela compose herself in front of her.

"_There…gasp… you're safe now, Angela. They'll take care of you, you can go home now."_  
Nana waited for a reply of any kind, a "thank you" or a sigh of relief. On receiving neither she looked up at the American's dilated eyes, met by a wide leer.  
"_Thanks… but no thanks."_ Came a sardonic reply.

Just as Nana's confusion sunk in she experienced a brief flash of pain around her neck and suddenly found her head spinning in an alarmingly circular fashion to the ground, catching the sight of a fountain of blood- her own. Rolling forwards onto the damp grass she attempted to scream in betrayal but no sound came, and as her disembodied head came to a rest she saw the traitor leap over the side wall of the Embassy and into the distance, catching a very faint crackling sound that could have been gunfire or – just as easily – someone munching on potato chips… and then nothing at all, not even the sound of running water from a nearby fountain. She tried to summon her vectors to position her head level to the ground, but as her brain used up more of its diminishing supply of fresh blood she failed to command even a flicker of a finger.  
With her eyes darting around then settling on a shocked stare in front Nana was aware that she was going to die in under a minute on foreign soil, and the last thing she'd ever see would be a cement wall and some crimson-stained grass in front… or so she though with what little brainpower was left. As her eyesight began to fade a pair of trouser-clad legs with smart black shoes came into view, stopping in front and turning in her direction.  
"Papa?" her lips attempted to summon a silent plea. With a tiny ounce of feeling Nana gathered that her hair was being pulled upward rapidly, forcing the rest to follow suit. On stopping she caught the look of an all-too familiar bald man in tinted sunglasses; he began to talk to her, shaking his head and tutting as the looming darkness inside the dead woman completed its onset.

-

"Now I understand if this has come as a shock", Briarecht spoke to Nana from his seated position on the rainy highway, "but those FBI morons only provided us with the information shortly after your broadcast tonight. We understand your sentiments but if you knew how dangerous she was to the public I believe you wouldn't have made the speech."  
With her eyes fixed on him Nana merely bleated "She… killed them?" in response, dropping both her arms to the ground. Her head began to turn side-to-side in anticipation of a rebuttal:  
"That's… that's not possible… she… she was only… I don't believe you."  
On finishing the sentence Albert's head appeared to snap alarmingly to the right, forcing him to crash back down and prompting the officers to aim their guns. Bando ran forward to stop Nana from her downward spiral but was met with a meaty shove from one of her vectors, tumbling towards the wrecked Pulsar. Gathering himself he then noticed that its hood was being pounded on very hard time and again with ferocious punches from afar.  
"Liar! Liar! LIAR! LIAR! LIAR! LIAR! LIAR! LIAR! LIAR! LIAR! LIAR!" Nana yelled in tears, continuing her assault on the car as Albert remained in mortal fear on the ground; the Police standing by and doing nothing in spite of the possibility that the car would explode not before long. Getting up from his knees Bando dashed towards the wounded girl and tackled her to the floor with the strength of a bull, forcing her shoulders down onto the tarmac, looking into her eyes and seeing them as a brilliant, harsh white with tiny lavender pin-pricks. He didn't notice her false arms trailing silently across the ground and re-grouping onto her stumps.

"NANA, LISTEN TO ME!" Bando shouted, cupping her cheeks. "There may be more to it than that! It could have been an accident. It could've been anything! A row over a boyfriend, a burglary, something stupid! That's how it is with Diclonius, you _know _that, you've known that since you were _born!_ Listen to me, Nana, you did what you thought was right, you… HEY!"  
Bando's throat tightened momentarily under her vice-like grip, Nana continuing her immeasurable rage by grabbing him and hauling him eight feet up into the air before the scared crowd.  
"I HELPED A MURDERER ESCAPE!!!! HOW THE HELL DO YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL?!?" she shrieked, not expecting an answer as he was incapable, his face darkening as he gasped for air. Almost as soon as she finished her sentence the horror of what she was doing struck in and she let him go, dropping him onto his knees. With a considerable fury of his own building Bando stood over the frightened girl, metal hand reared in front of him before striking at full speed across her cheek to snap her out of it.

Nana immediately fell onto her side, cowering into her arms and curling her knees in, prompting him to stop. As he looked on along with everybody else Bando heard faint sobs growing from the shitty mess in front, getting louder by the second until it peaked into a full cry. Barely able to disguise tears of his own Bando gently cupped his arms around her and picked her up from the ground, failing to interrupt Nana's freefall.  
"We'll come quietly." Bando mumbled under his breath, approaching the fearful pack of officers still bearing shotguns. One-by-one they made way for the pair to mournfully march through to the rear of the patrol car they didn't hit. Bando placed Nana onto her feet and opened the rear door of the vehicle for her. No longer in any mood to resist she climbed on inside, Bando following.  
"It could have been _much_ worse, sir." One of the cops said to Albert while helping him to his feet, just before the radio inside the active car burst into life. Rushing forward to answer it his complexion paled a fraction.  
"Sir! Do you know a Dr. Mishima?"  
"Yes… too well."

Briarecht limped towards the car and grasped the speaker unit to answer it, in doing so he caught a glimpse of the devastated woman leaning her forehead on the big man's shoulders, muffled wails coming from her mouth alongside an interminable amount of the word "sorry". All Briarecht could make out from the harsher sound of the radio was the phrase "Stay put, I'm en-route. You are in _deep shit_, Albert."

---

In his eyes Marvin didn't waste another second by seeking doctors out, bursting through the doors into the rain in a mad limp, shortly before leaping through grass verges and onto a flat concrete roof that stretched all the way to the rear of the hospital where the parking lot was stationed. Clasping the roof with his vectors he swiftly made way across before stopping at a ledge to catch his breath for a moment before looking for her. Peering over the edge he couldn't see a single soul in a mad run from the lot, nor in the direction of the road due east. Clutching at his damaged side tightly as possible before gritting his teeth he used his vectors to grip the sides of the extension and slowly make his way down a good forty feet of concrete, his own body close enough to the building so he could grasp a ledge if his vectors failed him. Eventually he grabbed at the lowest window ledge and lowered himself down to the ground, in front of the now-empty VW. Just as the clerk had described it the door was wide open but undamaged, sadly ruling out the faint possibility of enforced entry.

"_ANGELA!_" the redundant cry came from Marvin's lips.

Limping out onto the sidewalk parallel to the road he paid no heed to several looks from passers-by and urgent cars running out on the roads in the night, the possibility of being hauled in just for being a Diclonius existed but seemed unimportant to locating the reason the police was on the lookout. Wiping his face at every opportunity Marvin had a slightly easier time staying alert as the rain came down in force, helping to increase the glare from several street lamps on the main road and impressing on Marvin that if she had kept to such roads in blind panic it would make his job much easier… and sure enough several yards down the road towards the main shopping districts he saw a crimson-haired girl slumped by the lamp-post, head bowed and panting. Turning her head in his direction for a split second she looked at him and promptly resumed her flight, Marvin running as hard as he could in pursuit.

"_DON'T FOLLOW ME! STAY AWAY, I BEG YOU!_" Angela yelled behind her, grabbing hold of random objects to throw them behind her in desperation to stop him, having a degree of success until Marvin decided to propel himself in the air with his vectors, gaining considerable ground. With adrenaline washing the pain out in tides Marvin upped the pace, leaping over cars and onto roofs in hope of overtaking her, making mincemeat of several degrees of pitched roofing. Unfortunately for him she could read his mind just as well, dashing across traffic periodically with no regard for her own safety (or for others) in order to keep as much between her and him as possible, living or not. As several cars stopped commotions began to rise in the local area- Angela decided that drawing attention to the chase would advantage her in terms of stopping Marvin from doing anything rash, but in reality she would have to escape with as little fuss as possible, ultimately (but unbeknown to her) rendering it as a bad idea.  
"_ANGELA, YOU CAN'T RUN FOREVER!_" Marvin continued to shout from rooftops, and she knew that he was right- not being at peak physical condition after the weekend she'd die to forget she was flagging badly, and she prayed that eventually he'd run out of gas as well (not knowing his rib damage would be a major contributor to that) as she continued to run past increasing crowds. As she caught more glances in her direction she began to wonder if – as with Marvin – other people were onto her as well, and if she had to… "_No. I'd sooner die before resorting to… __that__, right_?"

After the chase led them close to a noodle stand not too far from the beachfront she fell onto her front in apparent pain, hunched over her belly. Coming to a halt on the roof of the stand Marvin beheld her sobbing below. Taking a careful descent down onto the ground just as several curious onlookers approached he produced a single palm to stop them from getting too close.  
"STAY BACK, I'VE GOTTA LOOK AFTER MY OWN!" he commanded the throng before turning to tend to the fallen Angela. As his look fell on hers something caught him on the side of the head, sending him to the ground.  
"_You hit the nail right on the head._" Angela exclaimed, bringing a blood-stained manhole cover to bear and aiming it menacingly towards the civilians. As they backed away she grinned before looking at a semi-conscious Marvin, shivering and bleeding from the forehead on the ground. Approaching him she placed a palm on his forehead, brushing his marred hair backwards. His dull eyes focused on her sharp ones as she began to whisper perfect Japanese into his ears.

"I'll only tell you this once: I do _not_ want you to get involved in my sorry mess. We'll never be free from these people."

Without waiting for a response that wasn't in the offing Angela ran towards the manhole that she opened, dived in and shut it behind her. Marvin defied every possible instinct to give in to sit up, before the adrenaline he summoned for the chase deserted him as he flattened out on the rainy tarmac.

* * *

**NEXT:** Hers is not to reason why, but to do or… die? 


	21. Considering the circumstances

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Elfen Lied or any of the major characters involved. I do, however, own a pair of PVC figures of Lucy and Nana that are rarer than a Stern John goal.

Holy jumping shit-balls, it's been almost a YEAR since chapter twenty came out! As much as it might work to leave the story hanging on a thread like it has, there are more than one angles that need exploring, and I'll carry on soon enough.

**

* * *

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE**

* * *

Without moving her eyes Nana counted every single object in her field of vision- the rear of one of the seats, the glove compartment, the police radio hanging loose, having ceased its bounce a while back. Empty of tears for the meantime her mind undertook two tasks to escape the sickening feeling that serpent Briarecht bestowed on her in a single sentence: playing My Little Eye with abnormal detail, and – assuming he was telling the truth, god forbid – following Bando's lead in guessing any possible extenuating circumstance. Judging her reaction to Marvin's rescue in the hotel room she certainly saw that Bando's assumptions had credence… in Angela's innate temper. A temper Nana was resigned to accepting that she shared, and it took under a second to realise that the correlation was in the mail- the good-natured but tumultuous times she shared with him both in public and in private unconsciously raised her expectations of life in general, giving her the belief that she could take on any-and-everything she liked doing without limit, without compromise. It all seemed to happen at once and maintain itself effortlessly, and with equal improbability and force things suddenly began to fall away over the last few weeks.

"_My health__"_, which was beginning to wane with both a lack of proper sleep and a growing need to draw breath from innocuous-looking sticks of herb…

"_My education"_, which Mayu played a large role in fighting to maintain in spite of growing evidence that their peers and lecturers were suspecting that something was wrong…

"_My job?"_ Where everything seemed to bind together like magic until today, then took several changes of creative direction both in and out of her control?

"_My relationship?"_ With the first man she shared a physical, intense love with; the man she nearly throttled a hundred seconds ago?

"_My freedom?" _ That the only father she knew nearly died to protect? Who she knew - in her heart of hearts- _was_ dead up to last year?

"_If not those by themselves, what else?... my friends? My __life?__ What __else__ could I lose today, because of a woman I'm compelled to free from a fate I suffered for six years? …and for what?"_

Stricken with this lingering fear she blinked and decided to let her gaze trail in no particular direction before feeling a futile but very welcome kiss linger on her forehead. Begging her soul to let her fight the sorrow and take comfort but to no avail she moved her head to face the man who suffered the brunt of her indignation, and she saw a face as deeply sad as her own, just above a raw neck of her own doing.

"She did it, didn't she?" Nana finally gave in to her dread under her breath, lips quavering.

"Even if she didn't, we can rule out public sympathy" Bando echoed her tone. "This may be out of our hands entirely. We could be facing time inside for this, and that's even if no-one else gets involved. Not to mention every kid still on the island will live or die on the word of the next monkey to take over that place."

That particular uncertainty scared Nana slightly more than her own predicament for a brief moment. Measuring herself for a response a familiar ring uttered from inside Nana's worn pants. Fishing out her cellphone and seeing Mayu's number on the ID she attempted to shelve her melancholy for something far more urgent.

"Mayu?"

"**It's Lucy."**

"Where are you?"

"**We're still in the hotel. We just got some real bad news regarding Angela."**

"I already know. The police stopped us halfway to the City. They maybe onto the hotel as well, can everybody walk?"

"**Konig's gone ahead to check out the Inn, Kohta and Mayu should be alright but Kurama's back isn't healed up yet!"**

"J…Just get everyone out of there… just think of something, please!"

The emphasis whistled in Lucy's ear louder than a scream. **"What happened to you? Are you OK?" **  
"No, I'm pretty freaking far from OK. Just… sort it out!"

"**Nana! Nana, listen. You couldn't have known, you just couldn't. I can tell this is important to you, but you have to…"**

"I have to go, they're coming to talk to me."

Returning her attention momentarily to Bando she began to sniffle again, wiping her nose on her shirt-sleeve and sinking back onto her seat. Overhearing some 'regular' human chatter she looked out of the right-hand window towards the road, and saw Briarecht entering into an animated argument with a slim gentleman in expensive governmental clothing; an argument Albert appeared to be on the losing end of as his face grew increasingly redder while his opponent merely looked in Nana's direction but without addressing the car. On seeing him beckon two officers forward to place Briarecht in handcuffs and secure him on the floor. The smallest snort of satisfaction followed before she loudly exhaled and began to speak.

"I… I… I went a little nuts there, and I… I'm sorry for that" she stammered. "B…b…but I've got a bead on the sit…situation. Mar… Marvin's there and he… he'll make sure that… oh god…" Nana put her face into her hands, immediately dispelling the lie.

"I don't know… I JUST DON'T KNOW!" she screeched before her words melted into more sobs. Once again every lesson she'd patiently taught herself about maintaining composure failed.

"Will he have to kill her?" Nana's anxiety began to peak while Bando smoothed her hair down in vain to placate her as she continued, shaking- "What if she kills _him_? What if she gets scared and runs? She… she can't know that we know, right? What reason's she got not to trust us?"

"_What reason, indeed?_" the officious gentleman asked through the closed rear door before climbing into the front. Yutaka Mishima lazily turned towards the couple, looking them both in the face with a keen but relaxed focus. For a few moments he eyed up both the frightened woman and her companion equally, deducing that they were anxiously waiting for him to make his play, unwilling to do anything to make the situation any worse. Reaching inside his long coat with a latex-gloved hand Mishima produced a baggie containing a cassette tape, and on recognising it Nana gulped to affirm that he meant business. Inserting the tape into the cruiser's player he pressed the Play button, and Bando was introduced to a strategically-cued portion of the last prolonged conversation of Iori Kakuzawa's life:

"_That figures. What I'm trying to say is that now you believe you're a member of civilised society you should be considering your fellow citizens' best interests above yours from time to time."_

"… _**Okay, **__**you**__** got **__**me**__**. This changes nothing between us, though. Oh, and I'm under no illusion that you're doing this out of sheer goodwill, You want something out of this, right?**__"  
"__Someone__. You know who."_

Mishima cut the tape. Nana's war-face returned immediately as he beckoned her to calm down before addressing Bando-

"Around four minutes after this conversation finished Iori Kakuzawa was murdered. We have evidence that rules you both out of this, so this doesn't interest us on an official level. What _does _interest us, as it should you, is the way that little snippet _by itself _refers to an unidentified person. Miss Sevens here knows the proper context as do I" – Mishima turned to face Nana with exaggerated hand gestures. "What you should be paying attention to is the notion of the truth being far scarier to the general public than any lie I could come up with over a mug of coffee. This tape doesn't clarify your knowledge of Hayes' motivation or disposition, but it _does _clarify your knowledge of someone whose motivation and disposition could be much more sinister. The billion-yen question being, naturally, if this mythical Vector Virus is a deadlier weapon in the _wrong_ hands, Miss Hayes, or in the _right _hands… say it."

"Lucy." Nana hit the spot.

"There you go. But that _can_ be another issue for another day going on what you claimed to the victim. Two minutes ago we would have sped you into town and held you in the station overnight alongside several scared ne'er-do-wells, before throwing pointed questions at you for ten hours before showing you exactly what I've just done and guaranteeing you the price of failure of cooperation. We haven't done that because right know the government of Japan has seen both the evidence and public opinion, and for some reason considers you to be an _asset."_

"The government of Japan?" Bando asked, puzzled.

"Out here in this craphouse I _am_ the government of Japan."

Ejecting the cassette tape he looked Nana straight into her eyes, now void of fear. She took him seriously and he knew it.

"If Hayes leaves town, you're going down. If she kills anyone above pond-life, you're going down. If you assist her in any way, you're going down. If she stirs up any shit to compromise public safety, you're going down. If _Lucy_ shows up and starts shit, you're going down. If _you _start any shit, you're going down… oh, and if you even _touch_ a goddamn radio microphone in the next two weeks, you are going down. Do you understand everything I've just said?"

"You make it sound as if I'm ready to accept your offer" Nana responded, cold as ice. "Why _shouldn't_ I take a well-deserved break and let you government primates fight this out over whichever puppet you place in charge of Taurus?"

"No reason at all, Miss Sevens…" Mishima started, before producing a thin cigarette and lighting it with an expensive lighter. "Other than a guaranteed mail-shot of everybody Hayes and Lucy massacre between them, graphic pictures _and_ mournful obituaries, A4 in full colour, tongue-licked and hand-delivered to you in your cell every morning. Not what _most_ lags would consider pornography, but whatever wets your whistle…"

Mishima pointed the cigarette in the direction of her teeth in a possible attempt to stop them from bearing on his face.

"Take a few drags and think it over. I can spot an addict better than you can spot one of your own." He uttered before it flew out of his hands into Nana's waiting mouth, the temptation too great. Screwing her eyeballs shut, she hoovered the toxins into her lungs, letting her head thud on her seat's upholstery before expelling a plume of smoke along with a muted, helplessly honest wheeze of satisfaction. The demon won.

"Do we have a deal?" Mishima asked with confidence.

---

Lucy swiftly helped Kensuke to his feet and retrieved his crutches from behind the sofa while he put his wrecked clothes back on with minimal struggle, before taking the sticks and moving for a brief spell much more comfortably than with the lamp earlier. Still concerned, she addressed him:

"I really don't think you should walk. I can't guarantee we won't need to bolt for it if they find us, and you're the first person they'll nail if they get a chance."

"Never mind me, I'll cope. Don't even think of arguing, I need to clear my head" Kensuke barked at her before taking a deep breath. "Kohta, have you started the noodles yet?"

"Not yet, and the potatoes have only been on for moments." He replied from the kitchen.

"Great, put everything in the oven and shut it all off. We need to seal this place up so no smells escape, and leave parallel to the road so that we can move past roadblocks… Lucy, if you can communicate with Doug and tell him to stay put it would be fantastic… wait a second!"

"What?" Lucy asked.

"Didn't we have someone else with us? We've had up to nine people here tonight and I could've sworn only five left… shit! The girl!"

"Mayu!!" Kohta shouted. She was nowhere to be seen inside the apartment, and nobody had paid much attention after settling down when most of the gang left for the car-switch. Frightened he dashed through the living-room and the passage out to the front of the hotel, his gaze darting side-to-side a few times without finding her in the darkness. He did find what appeared to be headlights in the distance growing slowly from pin-pricks- too slowly to be anyone passing through and far too soon to be anyone friendly. Momentarily torn between a mad dash in any direction to find Mayu and a mad dash back inside Kohta bit his lip in panic. Before he could opt for either course he found himself yanked hard back inside by his shoulders, landing flat on his back inside the passage. Moments after he hit the ground he heard the front door slam shut and not another sound. After cursing to himself he turned around to see Lucy looking at him, pale.

"Doug's on his way back. He said there's a patrol car headed towards us!"

"It's already here!" Kohta whispered sharply. "What now?"

From the opposite end of the courtyard the policeman's vehicle made a slow, near-mute approach towards the hotel's forecourt; the car gliding almost effortlessly onto the rough cement with barely a knock audible over the engine chugging well under the officer's radio volume. After killing the ignition the patrolman calmly left the vehicle with a gun in one hand, leaving the door ajar momentarily to reach for the radio's microphone whilst glancing around the surroundings, stifling a thin yawn. He spoke into the radio merely to confirm the site's apparent derelict state and asking if they were sure this was the place the fugitive's conspirators used as a base. Without an assured answer he grunted, closed the door and stepped forward to inspect further.

Kurama and Lucy peered at him from the darkened front window, neither knowing the next move should he get an inkling of their presence. In spite of her pledge against her infamous reputation she knew she could never catch him without ultimately blowing the whole thing; he was certainly beyond two metres and he would definitely get a good look, if not a retaliatory shot. Kurama's look flinched to the right side of the window, along with a slight suck of air.

"Mayu?" Lucy asked urgently under her breath.  
"Don't know, something moved in the grass just beyond the car."

The visual flitter in the distance that caught the doctor's eye did nothing to catch the cop's ears as he took a slow stroll along the hotel front near them, another hand reaching his belt to produce a torch. Instinctively the pair ducked under the sill as the midnight sun above moved swiftly across the window, once each way. Kurama was the first to brave the vista again, seeing the agitated man pace right out of view to find a rear entrance.

"Can you disable the car?" He hissed to Lucy.

"He left the keys in there, we might need it."

"There's not enough time for either!" Kohta winced, still prone on the floor. "They're not after Mayu. She's still drunk, and if he spots her he's more likely to lift her into town where she'll be safe."

"She can't go home; the house could still be under watch!" Lucy rebuked him. "And if they run into Angela… damn it, damn it all! Douglas, where the hell..."

Kurama interrupted her with flat palms onto her shoulders, staring into her wild eyes. "He's right. She's in no state to be a threat to a fly, all she has to say is that she started to walk home from a party out in the sticks and passed out. It's going to be okay, just keep calm."

Lucy noticed that his face was the closest it had been to hers yet, eyes locked on to each-other. Far from being reassured from his silent, gentle tone all her eyes could do was leak a sliver of water.

"I.. I… n… ny…"

Somewhat fortunately her mental battle abated with the sound of footsteps coming back from the rear of the block- the officer's search for any rear break-in had been fruitless. As the pair again watched from the window he muttered to his self, irritated at being this far from either a foreign maniac or a fish supper after his shift. Giving up the chase he paced back towards his car, holstering the gun. As he opened the door Lucy's head sunk out behind the window, her face beginning to slump onto the wall underneath… interrupted by an "uh-oh" to her right, thus precluding her relief. She watched as the officer concentrated his look on something off to the left from where he drove in, shining the torch in that vicinity.

"_How'd I miss that?"_ he mused before moving past the vehicle to inspect a pool of vomit beside the driveway. Without being particularly fazed by its constitution he looked at it, cocking his head a mite before jogging back to the car to retrieve his keys. Lucy and Kurama wondered urgently what was going on as the officer moved around to the trunk area, opened it up and shut it after producing a solitary latex glove. Holding a handkerchief to his mouth he prodded the spew momentarily to confirm that it was fairly fresh, before standing up and reaching for the torch with a more urgent spring.

The owner of the vomit was on her feet, about to stagger away.

With little hesitation the officer commanded Mayu to stop in a raised yet non-urgent voice, getting the desired response alongside a muttered cuss word. Without drawing his gunagain he approached her with uniform, cool steps and gently grasped her right wrist, drawing the tiniest resistance. On rounding her the cop raised his torch to her face, betraying her inebriate eyes and the remnants of her sickness while drawing a mildly profane request to turn it off.

"House party, huh?" he enquired, drawing a curt nod. "Where to, exactly?"

"Yamato."

"How old might you be, miss?"  
"Seventeen."

"You've just walked two miles from a house party on a Wednesday night, and you can barely stand up?"

Mayu meekly nodded, starting to sob. "I'm celebrating with my cousin, it's his birthday and he gets his exam results in three weeks, I left on my bike to get some more drink, and had a puncture. I know my way back into Kamakura, I know a cheap store near my house…."

"You'd cycle eight miles just for a booze store? What are selling, gas cheaper than the pumps? Get me a quote while you're at it."

She was coming round but still lacked the energy to laugh considering the trouble she knew damn well she was in.

"Now listen, miss, do you have any idea how much danger you're in? Haven't you heard the news right now?" he asked her, causing Mayu to shake her head.

"Some foreigner wanted on a murder rap – I'm talking a diplomatic incident here – is loose heading towards the coast, I heard there was a scene nearer the beach front, is that where you live?"

Again, Mayu shook her head.

"She beat up a local boy pretty damn bad, he's been taken back to hospital in critical condition. She hasn't gone nuts on the public, but we can't rule it out at all. I'm out here looking for her accomplices and I've good reason to believe they're holed up and waiting, you haven't heard anything strange about these parts, have you?"

"Nope."

The cop weighed up his options for a second, hands-on-hips. "_No insubordination, no resistance, just a harmless girl bang to rights._"

"Okay… I can either take you back to your party – I assume you have at least one responsible adult there – or I can ride you back to the police station in Kamakura, it's far away enough from the hot-spots so you'll be safe. Either way I'll have to charge you for being intoxicated under the legal age and you'll have to report into the station tomorrow accompanied by your parents, anyway. It's your decision."

"I'd…. rather go home. I can call my cuz in the morning."

"Wise decision"

The officer then directed Mayu arm-in-hand towards the rear of the car, opening the door just before she jerked backwards, almost sending him off-balance. Bending over towards the ground he heard her produce a very obvious sign that her sickness wasn't over yet. Belaying any instinct to stop her he placed his palm over his eyes, letting her stomach kick back what alcohol was left. He let his eyes slowly wander around the deserted hotel façade before coming to rest on a window that didn't quite look like the rest of them. A window that appeared to have a bespectacled face staring out of it.

"You there, come out!" the officer commanded loudly, reaching for his holstered weapon.

"**I wouldn't do that, if I were you.**" a cold, female voice uttered yards in front.

**

* * *

NEXT**: Looking back… would she have said anything different?

* * *


End file.
